Caged Bird
by JheneMaiko
Summary: Taiga was one of the few teenagers that was taken in by Orochimaru, she wanted to use him to grow stronger so that she could exact vengeance. During her years under his tutelage, she had built bonds with Sasuke, Karin, and Suigetsu. Though bonds have taken a sudden shift when she meets Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto x OC/R&R!
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. Masashi Kishimoto does!

* * *

_When I look back..._

_I sometimes wonder if I could've saved him._

_If I had tried, and I had noticed all the signs that pointed to the path that he was willing and led to take, I wonder if I could've stopped him._

_That's just hopeful thinking, right? Can you truly stop someone from walking a path that was set for them? I don't really know if he was born to walk this path in life. Maybe it's his destiny. Destiny can be reshaped, can it? After all, your fate lies in your own hands. Your future forever changes depending on the decisions you make. And these decisions, these decisions seemed so reckless and yet I understood._

_I empathized._

_But could I have stopped him? Could I had stop that overwhelming cloud of darkness from engulfing him? For the most part, I think not. I think you can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved, they have to same themselves. But as their friend, as someone you cares, you want to try and cling onto a hope that you can help them._

_I wanted to be the hand that reached In the darkness, a hand that he could hold and use to pull himself up from drowning into what he was becoming. But that wasn't something I was fated to do. No matter how much I cared for him, and how I seen him as a friend, I don't think I was ever meant to save him._

_Maybe I was never meant to meet him in the first place._

_After all, the same hand that was desperately trying to save him had saved me too._

_I was too busy worried about the darkness that surrounded someone else that I did not see my own. I was drowning, I was trying to break the surface of blackness that was trying to drag me down, but I wasn't worried about me. And then that hand, it was like a beacon of light and it had purified all the darkness that surrounded me._

_I don't know if my eyes were closed or I was just too blind to see how far I was being dragged down, but he saved me._

**o**O**o**

Amidst the training ground stood a young kunoichi, her eyes had been staring at the sword in her hand with much musing. She stood at 5'0, her hair a light wheat-colored blond that ended at her mid-upper thighs. Two ponytails at the sides of her head that resembled cat ears. Her skin was an olive tone color, her eyes a deep shade of magenta.

Her attire consisted of a scarlet bodysuit with long sleeves and was protected by partial armor on her arms and hips that were black with twinges of red at the tips of the armor. Around her right thigh is a red ribbon.

On her feet, she wore red socks that matched the bodysuit and covered most of her calves while on her feet where the simple shinobi-standard sandals, except for hers were the kunoichi addition with the small heel.

Her body had not moved from place, still standing in the middle of the forest of Kusagakure. Her eyes never left the sword until her name was called, "Taiga."

"Hm?" Slowly, she had looked over her shoulder. Her eyes observing the boy who had called her name.

The boy who called her name was Sasuke Uchiha. He was fair-skinned with onyx eyes and black hair that was chin-length. The back of his hair was spiky in an unusual hairstyle. He had bangs that hung on both sides of his face, framing his cheeks.

His sword, Kusanagi, was at his hip and his hand over the handle. "Fight me."

Every time he wanted to strengthen his Kenjutsu, he always looked for her. Being from Kumogakure had made her strong in it, but that didn't mean she wanted him to test out his skills on her every time. "Didn't we just battle a day ago?" She sighed, rubbing her shoulder. "Don't you get tired?"

"Who grows tired from getting stronger?" He queried, "I'll never be tired."

His words made her even more exhausted, but she decided to indulge him. "And what do I get out of it? I already mastered my sword-styles."

"Why do you have to get something out of it?" A pout slowly formed on her face, "Just fight me or I'll attack without warning."

"Was that supposed to scare me?" Taiga had asked, truly curious of his answer.

The right corner of his lip had rose in a smirk, "If you don't fear me by now then I'm not strong enough."

"I guess so..." Her ears had picked up on the sound of his sword slightly raised out of it's sheath. Her hand had went onto the handle of her sword and she had quickly turned around. "How about if I win, you buy me dumplings."

He had scoffed, "Everything we do always comes back to food, doesn't it?"

With a grin, she had placed her arms behind her head. "We get a shitty meal here every day. How am I supposed to survive on just rice? Hell, the least they can do is throw a rice ball or two but we don't even get that."

"It's made you stronger, hasn't it?" Sasuke had closed his eyes briefly, which alerted her that he was starting to get annoyed with the conversation of food. "You eat senselessly."

"Only a woman should worry about her own weight." Taiga's arms were folded under her bust, a smirk forming as she could see the twitch in his right eyebrow. "Besides, you can say that while you're sporting all those abs over there." She had pointed at his abdomen, his eyes opening but not paying heed to what she was pointing to.

He had shaken his head, "I didn't know you were interested in looking at my body."

Her face had flushed a shade of red, her hands rose in defense as she had shaken her head furiously. "How can I not see when you have your shirt wide open?!

"I'm not going to ask again." His arm had rested on the hilt of his sword. "Fight me."

They both had stood at a comfortable distance, both of them eyeing each other to see what the other was prepared to do. Taiga had mastered two sword-styles, Tennen Rishin-ryū and Iaidō, while Sasuke had developed his own sword-style by using a mixture of different kenjutsu.

The kunoichi's katana, Honjo Masamune, had whispered through the air as she had rose it into an attack stance, leaving it completely out of its scabbard. Only a few seconds of silence and thick atmosphere did she launch herself forward towards Sasuke. With all her weight behind the blade, she struck at Sasuke's neck, who had effortlessly flicked Kusanagi up to catch hers. But due to the force, he was forced behind her blade in which he hadn't expected, and was thrown back. "Heh..." He still was surprised by how she could easily overpower him with her blade, leaving him stunned that he would constantly underestimate how much strength she would add in each attack. It varied, it was never constant.

Never leaving an opening to go to waste, she had pushed forward, her blade hissing back and forth through the air like a dance or more like a possession, as if it had a mind of it's own. Sasuke still wore the calm and serene expression while hers took on a more manic excitement. Her blade had slammed again and again into his, the strength increasing over the course of strikes.

It came to a point where all he could do was anticipate and back her strikes, leaving her less to zero time to try and land a offensive blow of her own. Sasuke had threw his full strength behind his sword, and lunged at her but she had easily anticipated it, and twisted to the side so that the blade swept past her. Her hand had snapped out and Sasuke's sword fell, landing straight on the grass covered ground.

Both of them were breathing quite heavily, traces of sweat on their brows. "You'll never beat me in kenjutsu." She had said arrogantly, "Kumogakure is filled with the best. This is my life." Placing Honjo Masamune back in it's scabbard, she had picked up Kusanagi and inspected it to see if it had taken any damage. "But you're quite the swordsman, Sasuke."

His expression was the usual calm one, he was always composed even though she knew he was annoyed that he had lost... again. "How is that you know which move I'm going to make?" asked the Uchiha, his hand taking his sword out of her hand. "You always know what to counter."

"You have the element of surprise, I give you that." Her hands were now on her hips, her eyes continuing to observe him, "But you lack conviction. You're too calculating, sometimes you need to rely on luck. If you go against another calculating person then you'll always be countered. You have to take risks."

He soaked in her words as he had placed Kusanagi back in it's sheath, "That's the most idiotic advice I have ever heard." He then walked ahead, Taiga's mouth open agape in shock that he had called her advice idiotic.

"Don't be angry with me that you lost!" Sucking her teeth, she had watched as he continued in slow strides towards the hideout.

Following behind him, she had wondered what was going on in his mind. For the past couple of days, he was training relentlessly with Orochimaru, which was usual but it seemed more rushed now. He had mastered just about everything Orochimaru had taught, quickly in which was no surprise, but it had felt like he had something up his sleeves. Taiga wasn't sure if she was just paranoid or there was something that Sasuke was planning to do.

"Have you seen Suigetsu, lately?" She had asked him, "Or maybe Karin?"

"No." He answered truthfully, "You can visit them, why don't you if you're curious about them?"

It was true, she easily could but the Southern Hideout was really far and the Eastern one where Suigetsu was, was all the way in Otogakure. "Mm..." She had hummed in thought as she continued forward.

"What are your plans for Orochimaru?" His question had caught her off guard, her eyes looking at him with much confusion and skepticism. "Will you stay loyal or will you go your own path?"

"What's with that question?" Raising a brow, she had stopped walking when she noticed his steps ceased. "Are you...planning something?" Her brows had knitted together, her eyes slightly squinting as she had stared at his back.

Sasuke was silent for a few seconds, even letting a breeze pass by which made the branches rustles on both the trees and bushes. "Where do you stand, Taiga?"

The kunoichi was silent as well briefly, her eyes traveling down towards her feet before closing. A second breeze had whistled through, brushing her hair and skin. "I stand on my own side." She finally replied, her eyes opening halfway. "I'm only using Orochimaru to grow stronger because of my circumstance."

She had raised her head and looked towards Sasuke, his chin resting on his right shoulder as his eyes had peered over at her feet, a 'hmph' escaping him. "Our goals are the same." His feet carried him away, leaving her to stare at his back as the distance between them had grown.

"Mm..." She slowly nodded, "We both want revenge."

* * *

**Author's Note:** So, what do you guys think so far?


	2. Chapter One: Their Bonds

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. Masashi Kishimoto does!

* * *

"Sasuke is a very responsible person." Sometimes she wasn't sure why she praised him, especially when he didn't deserve it, but in this case... She figured he did. "He's very meticulous." Taiga continued to explain to Kabuto, who had just finished leaving Orochimaru's room after giving him his daily medicine. "You should know that, you're like that yourself."

"I suppose you do have a point." The silver-haired shinobi spoke, his dark eyes traveling towards the empty cup in his hands briefly before giving the girl in front of him his sole attention. "But then again, why should I care? It's not my business."

Before the girl could respond, both of them had looked to their left to see the Uchiha calmly approaching them down the corridor. "Talking about me, Taiga?"

"Yeah I'm talking about you. Who left all those kunais scattered around the place in the clearing?" She had asked him, her arms now folded under her bust. "Was it you? I figured it wasn't since you clean up after yourself."

"Then who else would it be? Orochimaru-sama is far too tired right now to be training." Kabuto noted, both of them still looking towards Sasuke.

He had looked at them without so much of an expression on his face. "It was me. I had taken a nap."

Her eyes had narrowed, her hands now resting on her hips. "Are you crazy? What if someone saw them?"

"What if someone saw them?" He asked, his onyx eyes meeting her own. "Does that mean they would find the hideout? How in one breath you call me responsible and the next you're not?"

"My mind changes, my thoughts never stay the same." Taiga said matter-of-factly, huffing as she did so. "Besides, if someone saw them then that means they would expect other ninjas to be around. It's careless."

"If it bothered you so much, why didn't you clean them up?" His voice was still level, which added more attitude in it.

"I shouldn't have had to!" He was slightly grating on her nerves, leaving her right eye twitching out of irritation. "They shouldn't have been lying about."

Taiga didn't want to argue with him and she could tell that he too was growing annoyed. So instead of bickering, she had left first, taking a right down the hall and towards the one room she occupied out of the many rooms the hideout had.

"He's annoying..." She mumbled, her hands bawling into tight fists as she had tried to channel her anger elsewhere. She couldn't think of anything, which didn't bode well with her.

"Taiga." Pausing, she had looked over her shoulder to Kabuto. "Orochimaru-sama wants to see you."

What did he want? Nodding, she had turned around and walked back down the hall and made her way towards Orochimaru's chamber. She knocked twice before she had heard a 'Come in'. Opening the door, she had walked inside the large room to see the man in a ill state.

He was sitting up with a slouch in his back, stifling a few coughs that left his throat with his hands covering his mouth. The coughs sounded like they were making his throat sore and his body shook heavily with each cough. It seemed like he was getting worse before he was getting better.

"Orochimaru-sama," Taiga had sighed, "you're not getting better, are you?" The man was strange, he always has been but in a way she had felt a slight attachment to him. He was the one who made her strong; she would never forget that.

He found her, took her in, and that was more than enough to feel sorry for him now that he was in such a state. Despite her pity, she was somewhat glad that his life seemed to be on the line. Orochimaru was a man who had hands that were drenched with blood and would never be clean.

"Are you feeling sorry for me, Taiga?" A smirk appeared on his face as he had asked, her mouth making a thin line before dipping into a frown. "You've always been quite honest how you feel about me, so go on, continue to be that way." Her lips had parted, wanting to speak but she found herself unable to. "To have Taiga pity me truly assures me that I must be worse for wear."

"You know you're undeserving of it." Taiga finally spoke, "But even I can't stand to see someone who looks like their dying."

A laugh had erupted in the air, the sound of it startling at her first but then making her feel uneasy. Was her act of sympathy really that humorous to him? He must've had a very droll sense of amusement to find that funny, at least that was Taiga's opinion about it anyway.

Midst his laughing, he broke into a coughing fit, alarming her but she had stayed in her spot; her feet firmly planted on the floor. Orochimaru had cleared his throat, his hand resting over his mouth for a few seconds before he removed it and spoke, "Well...I think I have laughed much more than I have expected to today. And for that, I thank you."

The sarcasm in his tone was so painfully there, which made the kunoichi close her eyes tightly in frustration. "You really get a kick out of pissin' me off."

"It's because you're temper is incredibly short." The way he was so matter-of-fact with it had irked her more. His golden, slit eyes had observed her fists bawling up at her sides. He kept a smirk before his eyes had glanced up towards her face. "I'll be well soon. So quell your worrying."

Despite the truth in his words, she much rather not hear thjat from him. Instead, Taiga remained silent instead of countering him. When he mentioned that he would be well soon as a way to cease her "worrying", she had sighed and shaken her head. "Why would I be worried about you, Orochimaru-sama? Aren't you supposed to be invincible? Aren't you supposed to say that me doubting you is an insult?"

His raspy voice had let out a titter, much to her disliking. "For you to dislike me, you have a habit of observing me."

"You know what they say, Orochimaru-sama." A smirk had appeared on her face, "Kep your friends close and your enemies closer."

"Indeed they do." He nodded, "But as your sensei and enemy, have you showed any positive results from your training? Or are you still struggling with your kekkei genkai?"

Her eyes had lowered in thought, a sigh escaping her. "I've shown little improvement but it is still out of control; it's far too dangerous."

"I see." His eyes had briefly closed, "Why not have Sasuke help you? He has easily been able to mix chakra natures."

"Asking Sasuke to do anything like that is like asking a cow to milk itself." Taiga scoffed, her hands on her hips. "Besides, he's already unhappy about how he cannot rival me in Kenjutsu, do you think he needs anymore of advantage on me in Ninjutsu? I think not."

"Your pride will not help you become stronger at this rate." Orochimaru said as she had looked at him, her eyes in thought but her mouth still in a frown. "I can't wear my body out too much, training you would be difficult unless I just observe. There are still things I must teach Sasuke."

"Which reminds me, I promised to do so today." Taiga had nodded understandingly, "Your kekkei genkai really needs for you to concentrate and to control it. Only you can do it, I can just simply lead you the steps to achieving it but it is all you in the end."

His words had stuck with her, feeling as if that might be entirely true. With a nod, she had decided that it was about time she took her leave. "I understand." She had turned around and left his chamber, going right and down the hall.

Maybe if she read a few scroll or took a nap she would get a little confidence about trying again instead of hesitating. When she had reached her room, she had laid down on her bed and rolled to her side. A yawn had escaped her, her eyes falling half close. "Sasuke's too strong for his own good. It makes me a little jealous... He's so competent that it pisses me off..."

Taiga continued her rant rambling before finally finding herself falling asleep into a much needed nap before she went to go train.

**o**O**o**

Taiga had jolted from the bed, her chest rising up and down rapidly as she had to fight to catch her breath. Her heart was pounding, almost as hard as if it was going to leap out of her chest cavity in any second. Her body was glistening with a thin sheet of sweat and her blankets were in a disarray from the constant trashing, rolling, and fighting her sleep.

Her eyes had quickly went to the door, her eyes narrowing. Something was right. The air had felt extremely heavy and unsettling. She had quickly used the bathroom in her room to wash herself off and changed into a new pair of her usual attire. As she was fixing the greave on her right leg, she had felt an unknown presence, Orochimaru's and Kabuto's chakra.

The door had opened, revealing three figures. Her eyes immediately went to the pale-skinned boy with short, straight black hair and black eyes to match. He wore a smile, which was quite unpleasant due to the lack of emotion behind it. Taiga had frowned, deeply, already disapproving. "Come along, Taiga." Orochimaru had said to her, the girl nodding obediently as she left her room and followed behind them down the hall.

Within the largest room in the hideout, there was a room where there was a large statue of a snake coiled up with it's eyes aflame due to the candles within them. It made it eerie since the room was extremelu dark, the only light was the eyes and the few candles that hung around the large room's wall.

Sasuke was sitting in the room, his sharingan activated and shining brightly within the darkness. "You're late." Taiga knew he was referring to Orochimaru, she had remembered that the two were going to train in the afternoon. "You said you would teach me a new technique this afternoon, Orochimaru."

Kabuto had spoke up, "Again with the rude tone." Taiga figured that after all these years, Kabuto would get use to the fact that Sasuke would never respect Orochimaru but she thought wrong on that case.

"Take it easy." Orochimaru spoke, a slight grin on his face. "I picked up a little present to make it up to you." Taiga followed Orochimaru's gaze to the strange boy, "He's a konoha shinobi, just like you." His words had surprised her but it was obvious due to the leaf insignia on his headband, which was proudly on his forehead. "I thought you two could reminisce about the good old days in the village."

"Hmph." His reaction did not surprise her as the two had stared each other down. Taiga was unsure if she liked what direction this was going, but she wondered why Orochimaru had allowed this boy in their hideout so easily.

In a matter of seconds, the boy had sported a strange smile. "Hi there. I'm Sai." He introduced himself, "You must be Uchiha Sasuke-kun—"

"Get bent." Sasuke interrupted.

Things were definitely going awry. "Even if I force myself to smile, I guess I'm just easy to hate." Sai said, his head halfway lowered with a look of somewhat defeat. "Naruto-kun hated me right form the start, too." _'Naruto...?'_ Taiga had repeated, feeling as though the name was strikingly familiar. "Though, between the two of you, I think I'll get along better with you."

"Ha!" All eyes were on her for her sudden outburst, despite feeling embarrassed about it, she merely had a smug look. "Nobody can get along with Sasuke. I've known him for years and he and I barely get along."

The Uchiha had hmph'd once more, "I like challenges." Sai had said to Taiga, causing her to shake her head. His eyes had then ventured back to Sasuke, his eyes changed. It immediately noted that the Uchiha had placed Sai in a genjutsu, the boy falling on his bum.

"Sasuke-kun!" Kabuto yelled out of warning.

"Oi, what's the sense, Kabuto-kun? You think he's gonna listen to ya?" Taiga had looked back at Sasuke and then to Sai, noticing the boy wipe his face and realized there was sweat.

"I wouldn't bother Sasuke-kun, if I were you." Orochimaru warned Sai, "His temper's even worse than mine."

"I've got nothing to say to this loser." Sasuke spoke again before he stood up, "Train me now, Orochimaru."

Sai did not quit however. "I've heard a lot about you from Naruto-kun. He's been trying to find you this whole time, for the entire three years."

"Yeah, I remember him." Sasuke's words had surprised Taiga, her curiosity over this boy named Naruto growing. "Let's go, Orochimaru."

As Sasuke made his way to leave, Sai continued on. "Naruto-kun truly thinks of you as a brother. Sakura-san told me that."

The slow turn and then the reveal of Sasuke's angry face had nearly made Taiga's heart stop, her mind only remembered his face contorting in such a manner was when he thought about Itachi. "I only have one brother." He said clearly, the candles illuminating his face and making it much scarier. "And all I care about is killing him."

Turning around, he took on step and then disappeared with a swirl of smoke left behind. The kunoichi had her hand bawled in a loose fist and over her chest, somewhat concerned. Something just didn't feel right. Tt didn't feel right at all.

Orochimaru had walked towards Kabuto, "All right, I'll be going. Kabuto, make a Bingo Book out of these." He said while handing the white-hair shinobi an envelope.

"Yes." Kabuto had said, taking the envelope from Orochimaru's hands.

"I'll leave the rest in your hands." Taiga had then looked towards Orochimaru, who had looked at her as well. "Behave."

Taiga scoffed, noticing the smirk on his face as he had walked away. Kabuto had opened the envelope, pulling out a small stack of paper and gasping. "These are copies of the files of the Hokage-controlled ANBU."So Sai was a Konoha traitor? Her distrust for him had grown as Kabuto scanned diligently through the papers. "These seem to be the real deal." Kabuto had then turned towards them both, "Taiga, I'll be taking Sai to a room."

"Mm." She nodded understandingly, "I'll be going to mine."

All three of them had walked down the hallway together. It was dreadfully quiet and the atmosphere was way worse than it was before. The tension was increasing, especially due to Taiga's distrust of the Konoha shinobi with them. "What's your name?"

"Taiga." Her answer was quick.

"Taiga, like the animal?" He questioned and she had answered him with a nod, "That's interesting. I suppose it doesn't fit you though."

Kabuto had looked over his shoulder, seeing the look on Taiga's face as she dared to ask why. "What makes you say that, Sai?"

"Tigers are supposed to be quite majestic, but you don't hold that look on you." Kabuto sighed as he had watched the girl slowly start to lose her temper, her hands now fists and a growl in her throat.

"Taiga, you can walk ahead." Her eyes had went to Kabuto, knowing he was trying to make her not out right attack the leaf shinobi, "Sai... I would prefer if you don't insult any of the shinobi here. They have abilities that you do not want to be tested on you."

Taiga smirked at Kabuto's warning before picking up the pace and walking ahead of them. "I did not mean to insult her. I just wanted to share an honest opinion."

"You should keep your opinions to yourself." Taiga spat, growing very much annoyed in Sai's presence.

"I'll keep that in mind." He responded, the walk down the hall now becoming silent like it was before but with much more tension. "Excuse me," He said directed towards Kabuto.

"Hm?" hummed Orochimaru's assistant, giving indication he was listening.

"I'd like to meet everyone else who's currently in this base." said Sai.

They had taken a couple more steps until Kabuto stopped walking, Taiga and Sai both doing the same. "There's no need to. Or rather you can't right now. Orochimaru-sama's only subordinates here at the moment are Sasuke-kun, Taiga-san, and myself."

With that said, they continued walking forward without so much of any words being said. When she had reached her room, she had opened the door and walked in but then noticed Kabuto gave Sai the room next to hers. With a groan, she had walked in her room and decided to ignore it.

"I am kind of hungry... And I don't have any food pills." Taiga had sighed, placing her hands on her hips for a few minutes while deciding if she could go without food or get some. "I should be training instead of slacking but I know Kabuto wants me to keep an eye on that dumbass next door."

Sighing, she had opened her room door and looked to her right to see Sai's door open. Curious, she had suppressed her chakra and took slow and quiet steps over, keeping her hearing focused on his room. "Why the hell did you turn on us, traitor?!"

Her eyes had widened as she had kept her back on the door, listening on to what was happening inside. There was someone else in the room with Sai, and there might've been more than just one person. "You really shouldn't be so noisy, or things will get even more difficult." That was Sai's voice for sure.

"You bast-"

A female voice had interrupted, "Naruto." She hand then spoke to what seemed to be to Sai, "Here. This... is yours, right?"

"Thank you."

"Danzo's orders, right?"

"He's plotting something involving Orochimaru, isn't he? And you were chosen to be their liaison. What are they up to?"

Another voice had spoke, someone seemingly more like an adult male. "He wants to team up with Orochimaru to try a new "Crush the Leaf" plan, doesn't he?"

So they were all Leaf Shinobi. They must've been Naruto and Sakura like Sai mentioned earlier to Sasuke. "No, he doesn—"

"We know that smile is fake!" The person she assumed was Naruto said, "And we also know you're lying!"

"Now that you've all discovered me here, my mission is a failure. I can't finish you all off by myself. And since you've figured this much out, there's no point in trying to hide the truth. It's just as you said. We're trying to destroy the current Konoha."

"What?"

"I was to be taken in by Orochimaru with the understanding that I would help him conspire against Konoha. That is the true mission that was assigned to me."

"Do you understand what you're saying?! That's—"

"That's not all." Sai interrupted, "I'm also to secretly send back information on Orochimaru to Danzo-sama. In other words, I'm also working as a spy."

"Keep talking." The older male said, "And don't leave a single thing out."

Sakura had spoke once again, "So you're supposed to be part of an alliance with Orochimaru while spying on him behind his back? That's so dangerous..."

"The moment Konoha is destroyed, Orochimaru will definitely betray us. It's a preventative measure to make sure we keep the upper hand."

"I see."

"Danzo wants to make Konoha his." Taiga couldn't fathom why the girl sounded so sympathetic towards Sai, "And you're supposed to make it happen all by yourself?"

"The information I write on my scrolls, takes on the form of small animals. That's how I can still leak information without compromising my safety. I was chosen for this mission because of that ability."

"If Konoha is thrown into chaos, lots of people will die again!" Sakura yelled. "Do you really understand what it is you're trying to do?!"

"Who cares? I'm just following orders." Taiga wanted to scoff at Sai's nonchalance, his regard for human life wasn't even visible.

"Sai, you..."

"One more thing. The name "Sai" was assigned to me for this mission. I am no one. I am merely one of Danzo-sama's arms. I do not exist. There's no point in saying anything to me."

There was a moment of silence and during that silence, Taiga wondered what should she do. Should she relay this information to Kabuto or bother Orochimaru and Sasuke's training?

Closing her eyes, she decided to tell Orochimaru himself. She had disappeared in a cloud of white plum petals and made her way to the training area.

The area was nearly destroyed, whatever Sasuke learned, it was powerful. "Taiga, why are you interrupting my training?" She had looked in the direction where Sasuke stood.

"I didn't come here for you, idiot. I came here for Orochimaru-sama, but I guess you should know that your leaf friends are here."

Orochimaru had looked towards Taiga, "You have information to tell?"

"Mm." Taiga nodded, "I'm sure you know that Sai was going to betray you in the end with Danzo, didn't you?"

"Danzo isn't necessarily a trustworthy person, I was going to end up betraying him but I guess he saw through me."

"In any case, if they are trying something then Kabuto has already interfered." Taiga had said, "But I don't trust Sai and the odds are against him."

Orochimaru had hummed in thought. "He'll be fine." He had then looked towards the Uchiha, "You've mastered the technique, Sasuke-kun. Now, shouldn't we go pay your friends a visit?"

Sasuke was silent as both Taiga and Orochimaru awaited for his reaction. "I'm taking a rest." Sasuke had then disappeared, leaving Orochimaru and Taiga to understand his answer.

"Come with me, Taiga." Orochimaru said, the girl nodding as they had disappeared and went back to the base. When they arrived, they had appeared in the same hall that Sai and Naruto was sitting in.

_'So that's Naruto, huh?_' Her eyes had observed the spiky, blonde hair boy with bright, big blue eyes and six whisker-like marks on his face. There were three on each cheek.

Both Taiga and Orochimaru had taken a couple of steps forward, alerting the two of their presence. "All right, Sai, whose side will you take now?" Both boys had stood, obviously preparing to fight. "Sen'ei Jashu!" He had pulled his right arm back before thrusting it forward, two snakes had headed towards both boys, but they had managed to escape by taking a couple of jumps back. "It looks like you're on their side after all, Sai... or whatever your name is."

"I'll keep them busy." Naruto had told Sai, "Sai, please go look for Sasuke!" Sai had hesitated, which made Naruto's voice rise. "Hurry!"

"Very well." He agreed, nodding his head. "I'll find Sasuke-kun and get him out of here."

"Haa!" Taiga burst into a fit of laughter, "You couldn't even fight his Genjutsu and you think you're going to take him out of here?" Both of them had looked at her, "Sasuke doesn't want to leave. He's staying here out of his own free will, you're only setting yourselves up to get hurt." Both of them had grimaced but Sai had ran down the hall anyway, "Idiots..."

"So you've come here to take Sasuke-kun home, have you?" Orochimaru questioned the blond-haired boy. "Your persistence is impressive, but will things really go as you wish? Taiga knows Sasuke pretty well, you should've taken her words seriously."

"I don't care..." said Naruto, both Orochimaru and Taiga remained silent as he had spoke. "I don't care if you're close friends with Sasuke and I don't care if you're one of the Legendary Sannin, like Ero-sensei or Granny Tsunade." His hands were pressed together in jutsu formation.

Orochimaru wore a sinister grin while Taiga had shaken her head in disappointment. "Idiot..." She mumbled.

"I'm gonna kick both your asses and take Sasuke back!" He declared.

"Take Sasuke back? Do you know how you sound?!" Taiga finally yelled, taking one step forward as she raised her fist. "You can't take someone back unless they are kidnapped! Sasuke left, he left on his own volition. If you know Sasuke, you know damn well he's determined and if he wants to do something, he'll do it!"

The boy appeared surprised at her words, his eyes narrowing and his brows furrowing. "You don't know—"

"It's you that doesn't know anything!" She nearly screamed, already angry at how stupidly persistent the boy was. "Sasuke has changed, and you don't know him anymore!"

The legendary sannin had then moved his arm in front of Taiga, not allowing her to take any steps forward. "There's no reasoning."

Her eyes had looked up at Orochimaru, his eyes focused on the boy ahead of them "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Many clones of Naruto had appeared and all headed towards him. Orochimaru had grinned, "Sen'ei Jashu!" He released four snakes flew from his sleeve, coming out of their mouths seemed to be metal-like blades.

Taiga had ran forward, unsheathing her sword and slicing any clones she managed to get near while avoiding Orochimaru's jutsu. "Rasengan!" She looked up to see two clones, one already dispersing, while one had a bright ball of chakra.

It destroyed one of the snakes but the other three had already destroyed the clone. When she had seen the real Naruto thrusting his kunai towards Orochimaru, she had ran forward and grabbed the boy by the ankle and swung him towards the ground.

He had rolled across the floor some distance away as she had stood protectively in front of the snake sannin. "Son of a—" He muttered, writhing on the ground.

"What happened to all the energy you had earlier?" asked Orochimaru, his grin still stretching on his face. "Your power... The Kyuubi's power..." The girl in front of him had wide eyes, shock forming on her face.

_'Kyuubi? This boy, he's the... He's the ninetails jinchuuriki?!'_ Naruto had slowly gotten to his feet, panting heavily.

A cackle escaped his throat, "Show me what you're truly capable of!"

"Orochimaru-sama!" Taiga said his name out of warning. She knew that the sannin couldn't keep using his powers, it was dangerous. He couldn't afford to keep wearing down his already deteriorating body.

He hmph'd, "I'll be fine." He didn't say out of comfort but more out of arrogance. "Sei'ei Jashu." As before, four snakes had left his sleeve with those metal blades leaving their mouths, protruding dangerously towards Naruto.

Before they could touch the jinchuuriki, a wooden tendril broke through one side of the wall and hit the other side, shielding Naruto. Two ninjas appeared, the girl Sakura and the adult that was with them. "Orochimaru again?"

Naruto looked to Sakura, who had given him a nod. The only person missing was Sai. "Orochimaru-sama..."

"One more minute." He said, knowing what she was going to ask. "Naruto-kun, I'll let you live for now. Please do your best to kill at least one Akatsuki for me, okay?"

"Wh-What?!" Naruto uttered, confused yet surprised.

"Now then, I have business with that Sai boy. If you'll excuse us." Placing a hand on Taiga's shoulder, they had both disappeared as a wisp of smoke.

Taiga had appeared alone in the already destroyed room that Sasuke stayed in. He had stood on a ledge while Sai was on the ground below, staring up at him. She was beside Sasuke, who placed his hand on his lip as he had stared down at the boy below them.

"You decided to join me, Taiga?" Sasuke casually said as she had rolled her eyes. He did not say more as both Sakura and Naruto had entered, standing on each side of Sai.

"Sasuke..." The blond had mumbled his name, in somewhat disbelief.

Taiga's eyes had followed Sasuke, seeing his onyx eyes focused on them all but more so on Naruto. "Naruto? So you're here too?" The wood jutsu user had then walked in, "I assume Kakashi's with you, as well."

"Sorry, I'm not Kakashi-san." The man had said. "I'm here in his place. And the new Team Kakashi is taking you back to Konoha."

"Team Kakashi...?" His eyes then followed to Sai's hand, which had reached for the handle of his wakizashi, unsheathing it.

"Sai, I knew it, you're—!" The pink-haired kunoichi began to say, alerting the other two males.

"So he's my replacement?" Sasuke queried, "Another loser joins the ranks. He said something about wanting to protect my "bond" with Naruto."

"Sai, wasn't your mission to—" The girl was cut off again, but this time by Sai.

Sai kept his sword pointing to Sasuke, "Yes, my secret mission was to assassinate Sasuke-kun. But I don't care about my orders anymore. I want to act of my own free will. And I think Naruto-kun can help me remember... What it was like to feel. I think it was something very important." He was no longer talking to Sakura, he now directed the conversation to Sasuke. "I don't know much about you, but there must be a reason why Naruto-kun and Sakura-san came all this way just for you! They are going all out to keep their bonds with you from being severed! I still don't understand it myself, but Sasuke-kun, you should!"

Sasuke had briefly closed his eyes as Taiga looked down at the ground, her gaze softening upon hearing those words. "Oh, I do." She had looked to the Uchiha, his eyes immediately opening. "That's why I severed them!"

Both Sakura and Naruto had looked shocked but most of all hurt by his words, she knew they were going to get hurt, that's why she wished they had changed their minds. Her eyes had closed, her head turning away.

His eyes had closed once again, obviously reflecting on something before he opened them again. "I have a different "bond."" There was silence for a few minutes, Taiga now looking back at Sasuke, worried. "A bond of hatred with my brother." A strong breeze had flew, it was loud but gentle. "Other bonds merely confuse you... and distract you from your greatest desires, and the emotions that matter."

"Then why...?" Naruto muttered, "Why didn't you..." His eyes were shut tightly, his voice shaking. "Why didn't you kill me?!" He yelled as he shook his head, "Is this your idea of cutting bonds, Sasuke?!"

"Naruto..." Sakura calmly called him, obviously worried.

"It's simple..." Sasuke had begun to answer him, "It's not that I couldn't cut off my bonds with you. The idea of doing what he said in order to become more powerful made me sick."

"What're you talking about?" Naruto questioned. Just as confused as everyone else.

"I don't owe you any explanations." The Uchiha said simply, "All I'll say about back then... That day, I let you live on a whim."

It was sudden but Sasuke had leaped forward, his left hand resting on Naruto shoulder while his rest hand was on his hip as he looked over Naruto's left shoulder. Nobody had seen him move, he was quicker than their eyes could see. "Come to think of it, wasn't your dream to become Hokage? You should've spent your time training instead of wasting it running around chasing me. Right, Naruto?"

"S-Sasuke-kun...?" Sakura had called out to him.

Sasuke continued on, ignoring the pink-haired kunoichi. "And this time, I'm going to kill you on a whim."

"Sasuke." Taiga tried to interfere as the black-haired boy had unsheathed Kusanagi, using it in reverse.

"Someone who can't save even one friend isn't fit to become Hokage." Naruto had said, "Right, Sasuke?" Sasuke had moved his sword to stab the blond in the back but before Taiga could stop it, Sai had grabbed the wrist Sasuke held the blade, his sword in his other hand.

"That was the correct way to block my attack." Sasuke said to Sai as Naruto flipped over the Uchiha's arm in attempt to twist his arm, but Sasuke summoned chidori, shocking both boys away to avoid the wooden tendril being sent his way.

Taiga had jumped down once Sasuke's chidori wad deactivated. "Sasuke," She said his name out of warning, "that's enough."

His eyes had looked at her from the corners, "What is making you interfere?" He asked her, curious.

"You don't want to do this." She closed her eyes halfway but both of them had seen the kunoichi charging at him, he had chidori coat his blade and prepared it to attack her but the wooden user interfered, taking the stab.

Taiga had grimaced as Sasuke had him pressed against a boulder size debris. "That was the wrong way..." He informed him as both she and Sakura realized that the man was stabbed in the heart. The Uchiha pushed the sword into him, the man dropped the kunai as he grimaced and write in pain. "to block my attack. My sword Kusanagi has a unique blade. Guarding against it is impossible."

The man had struggled continuously, "Sasuke..."

"Taiga," He was growing annoyed by her growing sympathy of the leaf shinobi. They had both looked towards Naruto, who was struggling to push himself from off the ground. His nails had grown like claw, his eyes red and slit.

Taiga knew it must've been the ninetails chakra started to take over him. This wasn't good. However, Sasuke continued to stare Naruto down with his sharingan activated eyes and soon the boy reverted back to his normal self. Yamato had used a jutsu to push the sword out of his chest, pushing Sasuke back.

He then did the handseals of another jutsu, "Mokuton: Mokujou: Heki!" Tendrils had came flying from the ground and tried to make a cage to capture Sasuke, Taiga had unsheathed her sword quickly, doing a quick slash, leaving Sasuke to escape, jumping into the air and towards the ledge where she met him.

Both of them had their swords out of their scabbards, ready to attack again if need be as they peered down at the group of shinobi. "Why?" Naruto yelled, his hands bawling into fists as his voice rose in volume, his brows furrowed in anger and his blue eyes blazing. "Why don't you get it?!" He said, clenching his teeth. "Orochimaru's gonna take over your body."

"If that's what happens, then it happens." Sasuke responded calmly, Taiga's frown deepening. Was it that obvious or was Orochimaru parading that around? She knew, she knew that was Orochimaru's plan all along. Sasuke had told her that long ago but she knew from the other shinobi they knew that he had taken. "You still think like a kid, Naruto. My revenge is everything to me." Naruto had struggled to stand, his body quaking until it gaze out and he fell with his hands pressed to the ground. "As long as I can exact it, I don't care what happens to me or anyone else. Here's the situation: Right now, neither I nor Orochimaru are a match for Itachi. If sacrificing my body to Orochimaru is the only way to kill him, I'd give up my life a million times over."

Taiga's frown had deepened, hoping that Sasuke didn't mean it. She always believed at one point Sasuke was going to kill Orochimaru, isn't that why not too long ago he had asked her where her loyalties lied? There was no way he was willing... But either way, the leaf shinobi looked in disturbance to the boy's words.

The wooden jutsu user had then stood, walking slowly towards Sasuke. "Enough talk. Naruto, Sakura, I'd hope I wouldn't have to injure him in front of you two, but I need to get serious now."

"Captain Yamato..." Sakura muttered, concerned as to what he meant.

"Get serious?" Naruto said, also unsure of what the man meant.

"He's the same as Orochimaru, a rogue ninja who deserted the village and can't be allowed to roam free. We're taking him back to Konoha, no matter what!"

"Konoha?" Sasuke wanted to scoff upon the name of the village, "I've had it with all of you." He stabbed Kusanagi into the ground and began to do a number of handseals, a aura of strong chakra had appeared around his body as he rose his right hand, but before he could continue with the jutsu, Orochimaru had suddenly appeared and grabbed his wrist and diffused it.

"You are not using that technique, Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru had warned him.

Sasuke, as nonchalant and annoyed as ever, retorted. "Beat it."

Kabuto had then appeared to Taiga's right, both her and Sasuke looking towards him. "Come now, you're still using such foul language with Orochimaru-sama?"

"I don't see any reason to stop." He answered honestly.

"You know what the Akatsuki is up to, don't you?" Kabuto asked. Sasuke had looked at him in a choleric manner "That's why we want Konoha to help eliminate them. Even if it's just one. If the other Akatsuki members interfere, then you'll have more trouble taking your revenge, right?"

"That's pathetic." The Uchiha sneered.

"It's an opportunity to improve your chances, even if by only 1%." He looked to Sasuke, "Agreed?"

They had all looked back down at the leaf ninja, Sasuke loosen his pose and Orochimaru had let go of his wrist. "Let's go." Orochimaru ordered, Sasuke had placed his sword back in it's scabbard.

All four of them had disappeared in flames.

**o**O**o**

They had been taken to Kusagakure, the Eastern Hideout. It was the next location to go if the other had been discovered. Sasuke had walked ahead, not bothering to say a word. "Sasuke," Taiga had called his name and then stood in front of him.

"You've been more annoying than usual for the past hour." He said to her, "You're not going to change how I feel."

He already knew her intentions. "You see right through me even without your sharingan activated." Taiga sighed, "I just want you to think more carefully about your choices."

He didn't say anything but watched as she had turned away from him and walked down the hall, picking out what would be her new room.

* * *

**Author's Note:**


	3. Chapter Two: The Search

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. Masashi Kishimoto does!

* * *

"So that's what happened, huh?" There was no body, just a tank filled with water with a voice emanating from it. Taiga had stood in front of it, talking to the person inside of it who was like water himself.

"I'm worried about him to be honest." Taiga had frowned, already finished relaying all the details that happened weeks prior of when Naruto and the other leaf shinobi came to their hideout. "I trust that he won't let Orochimaru-sama take his body."

"Sasuke has a really odd way of going about things, you know that." His words weren't necessarily comforting but they were the truth nonetheless. "Still, he's not dumb enough to let Orochimaru have his way."

The corners of her mouth had rose upwards, "You seem to think fondly of Sasuke, Suigetsu-kun. And here I was just thinking it was me and Karin-chan."

He sighed, which made her chuckle since she could tell he was getting annoyed and flustered. "It's not like I care."

"Right." She nodded, "You haven't changed at all, Sui-kun." Her hand had pressed on the glass with a sense of sadness, "I wish I could free you but I can't do that while Orochimaru-sama is still alive and kickin'."

"Heh, afraid of facing him head on?" He questioned, merely teasing but also curious of her answer.

Taiga had removed her hand from the glass and placed it on her hip, "If I could control my Kekkei Genkai, I wouldn't mind tryin'! But, he's a sannin. He's way too powerful although he has been a bit weak lately."

"Even a weak Orochimaru is a strong Orochimaru." She nodded, agreeing with him. "I'm sure Sasuke might use this time to his advantage."

"I agree..." She had mumbled, her eyes looking away as a sense of uneasiness had rested on her shoulders. "Well, I should be going."

"If you're gonna come visit me again then bring me some yogurt, will ya? Oh, and when I'm outta this place, you still owe me a fight, hear me?"

It was the same with both Sasuke and Suigetsu. Whenever they had someone that matched or outranked them in a certain skill, they had to fight them until they won. They were too competitive for her taste. "Yeah yeah!" She waved her hand, leaving the laboratory.

Now that she was back inside the base, she had decided to look for Sasuke. After the incident when the Leaf shinobi had entered their hideout, he had been training and hiding relentlessly. He could've easily killed them all: Sai, Sakura, Yamato, and Naruto. They could've all died there. However, Sasuke didn't believe in killing anyone, in fact she had never seen him kill anyway. All he did was leave people unconscious when he went out and did missions for Orochimaru.

She had stopped in thought, now wondering why she had just noticed that herself. Slowly, she had raised her hands and looked at them. Taiga never killed anyone in her life either, she promised herself that she was going to save her first death for one person and one person alone. Now she could see that Sasuke was indeed waiting for the same thing. _'We're more alike than I thought...'_ She had mumbled, recalling the events when she had first met Sasuke.

**Flashback**

_It was raining, heavily. Despite how much rain had dropped from the sky, it was quiet and persistent. A young Taiga, at the age of eleven had stood in that rain and allowed it to mask her tears by becoming one with the rain. Her small shoulders had trembled, soft sobs escaping her throat as she had stared out into the distance. Her mind was still reeling from what happened, unsure of how to deal with the losses she had just dealt with today._

_"Is she a new recruit?" Someone had asked, not bothering to at least whisper._

_Her hair had clung onto her skin, her body completely soaked by the rain as her clothes stuck on her. The blood that had stained them had already washed off, making it look like she did not go through the ordeal that happened only a matter of hours ago. "Yeah, that cloud Ninja, Yuuma went on a killing spree."_

_"Yuuma of the clouds?!"_

_"Yeah! He killed a lot of people today, it's all over the world by now!"_

_Did they have no shame? She could feel her fist balling up at how loudly they spoke, wondering why they didn't consider that she was there. That she had just survive something so traumatic? Clenching her teeth, she felt the tears continue to pour from her eyes as she had tried to choke back the sobs that wanted to continuously leave her throat._

_Suddenly, she couldn't feel the rain._

_Looking up with tear-filled eyes, she had noticed an umbrella. Her eyes had slowly became big in shock as she looked to her right, noticing a small dark-haired boy beside her. Feeling another presence, she looked to her right and saw a red-haired girl. "You know, it's okay to cry and feel angry." said the red-head female._

_"I guess we can say, we know exactly how you feel." A voice that didn't belong to either one of them had said and suddenly a boy with white hair and blunt tints at the end of his hair was in front of her. He grinned, revealing his piranha-like, sharp teeth. "So cry all you want."_

_"Who said I was crying?" Taiga huffed, blinking away tears. "It was just the rain on my face."_

_"Eh?" The white-haired boy groaned as he had scratched the back of his wet, stringy hair. "You're worse than Karin."_

_"Shut up." The girl on her left had barked, "Who said she was crying? If she wasn't, she wasn't."_

_Taken back by Karin's coming to defense for the girl, Suigetsu folded his arms and huffed. "Sasuke, why don't you help me?"_

_The boy on the right hadn't said anything, just smirking. He had shoved the umbrella towards Taiga. "You can't afford to be ill." And with that, he had walked away from them, leaving Taiga confused._

**End Flashback**

"Taiga." Her attention had shifted away from her thoughts and looked up to see Sasuke standing in the middle of the hall, his expression show that there was something on his mind.

"Hm?" She hummed, "Don't question why I'm standing here. I was just thinking about something."

He didn't bother to ask what she was thinking about. "You went to see Suigetsu?"

He was concerned about the Hōzuki? Her eyes had softened some, a small smile appearing on her face. He always acted like he didn't care about Suigetsu and Karin, but she knew he did. "Yeah."

From her expression he could assume that he was fine and he didn't want to lead on that he was more curious than he already was. "When you leave, are you going to go back to Cloud?"

She had shaken her head. "No, he's not in Cloud. Besides, I left my village. I don't think I can just go back. There's really nothing for me there."

"So the first thing you're going to do is look for Yuuma?" She had nodded in reply, "You don't even have any leads to where he might be."

"I don't care." She put it simply, "I'll tear the world upside down. I search behind every tree, in every house, under every rock, in the ground or in the sky until I find him. I don't care if I'll die trying, I'll still search for him."

As she suspected, a 'hmph' had rung in her ears. Her gaze fixated now on her bawled up hand, her fist tightening in the thought of Yuuma. "There's something I'll have to ask you in a few days."

She had furrowed her brows, unsure of what he meant. "You've been acting strangely these past few days. But I'm not sure if I'll be around before you ask me."

"You're leaving?" He asked as she had looked at him, nodding her head.

"Orochimaru-sama basically told me that he can't teach me how to control Kekkei Genkai, it's up to me. I'm not good at mixing chakra natures and he's too ill to be patient with me." Taiga sighed softly, unbawling her fist and roaming her fingers through her hair. "So, I'll take the time to learn it on my own but... it's about time I stop sticking around here and do what's been sitting on my mind for nine years."

The atmosphere was quiet, and somewhat awkward. The Uchiha could tell the sincerity in her words, and he knew that she wasn't going to go back on her word whatsoever. "Do what you have to do."

Sasuke was never the one to stop someone, especially when he had no reason to. In fact, she was glad he was like that. "Sasuke," he continued to stare at her to inform her that she still had his attention. She chewed her lip thoughtfully for a moment, her eyes never leaving his face. At last, she sighed and spoke. "Hey, take out Kusanagi."

"…" His face showed his obvious confusion, and he stood there for a moment without doing anything. He seemed more so surprised at the strangeness of her request but for a moment, he must've thought she asked him to fight, and finally he pulled Kusangi from its scabbard.

Unsheathing Honjo Masamune in a smooth motion, she took a few steps closer to him and tapped her blade against his own. "This is called Kincho. It's what samurai do, when they swear an oath." Taiga said softly. The Uchiha had then remembered that Taiga was actually from a samurai family. He recalled when she said her father was a samurai and her mother was a kunoichi. "Well, I guess technically neither one of us is actually a samurai, so we're just going through the motions, I suppose."

"Why?" Sasuke finally asked.

She grinned. "Proof. We'll see each other again. And you'll survive too. That's the oath we just made. So you trust me, and you get your revenge. And don't die."

Her words were confident and listening to her had made him, surprisingly feel more capable. "It sounds like you doubt that I'll survive."

Of course he would take it the wrong way. She wasn't even sure why she thought doing this was going to make him feel confident, she knew deep down that he felt skeptical about being as strong or stronger than Itachi. "I wouldn't doubt that.

She had sheathed Honjo Masamume and then walked past him. "See ya, Sasuke."

"You're not going to tell Orochimaru you're leaving?" He asked as she kept walking forward.

"He already knows." Taiga replied, "Tell Kabuto-san goodbye for me. He was sleep when I was going to."

"Tch, I'm not your lackey." She nearly scoffed at his words.

"That's exactly why I left a note." He had smirked as her footsteps had became farther and quieter.

**o**O**o**

A few days after leaving the Eastern Hideout, she had heard about Sasuke killing Orochimaru. The rumor had spread quick; each and everyone telling one another the news about how the Uchiha showed the man no mercy. How they knew the battle? She wasn't sure, but she knew that the only why Sasuke won was because Orochimaru was ill. She knew the day was coming, and from the way he spoke to her last time they spoke, she should've known it was happening soon.

Taiga had taken a boat to the Land of Fire after hearing rumors that a man that fit Yuuma's description had been there. There was a mass murder in one small village and she had wondered if he had been the cause of it. After investigation, she had realized that it wasn't, which led her to no paths towards him.

"Hisakawa village..." mumbled the kunoichi as she had read the sign, her head slightly tilted to the side as she had looked down from the sign and towards the forest path towards the village. She needed rest, a good meal, and then to ask anyone if they had seen Yuuma or a man of his description. Saying his name to people might put them off, so she thought it was only necessary if the description didn't shake their memories.

During the course of traveling, she had changed her clothes. She sported regular traveling clothes so that she could blend in well and pulled her hair into a low ponytail. She didn't want anyone knowing that she was a rogue ninja, it would only put her in more trouble and lower her chances.

"First things first," She mumbled, "I gotta eat. I'm starvin'." Her hand had went to her stomach, rubbing in small circles as she could feel it growl due to the last meal she ate was a day ago.

Walking ahead, she had heard a few voices not too far. "There's a rumor going around about these small villages getting slaughtered." An older woman had said, "Do you think Hisakawa village is next?"

"I hope not. I'm really worried..." The other woman replied, "It's already bad enough we're not a ninja village and we still get caught up in their war."

Taiga had chewed her lip, wondering if it would be best if she stayed in the village for a while to make sure nothing happened. "Hell, I'd rather be in a ninja village if this kind of thing is happening."

"If you're that scared, Konohagakure isn't that much far away from here." Taiga's brow had rose in thought, the leaf ninja now appearing in her mind. "They've been really secure since the ninetails attacked."

"I don't know... Isn't the ninetails trapped in some kid? What if that thing got loose?" Walking ahead, she had reached the village's gate, which had opened for her as she had revealed her traveler's pass.

Her eyes had wondered through the small village, her eyes had searched for any restaurants or stands, and she had found a quaint teashop. "Mm, dango and tea sound really good." Running towards the shop, she pushed the flap door to the side and walked in.

It wasn't full but it wasn't empty either, there was a reasonable amount of customers that it didn't make the atmosphere stuffy. Sitting down at an empty table, she folded her hands on the table's surface and awaited for service.

A large fist had slammed down on a nearby table, Taiga's eyes immediately followed the sound to see a young man with long black hair that was tied in a ponytail, green eyes, and his face contorted in an angry expression. "Where's the waitress with our drinks?!" He shouted, "We've been waiting for the past thirty minutes!"

Her lips parted to say something but she decided otherwise. They were obviously people that couldn't be spoken to with reason, they would more likely than not pick a fight and she wasn't in the mood to fight a bunch of thugs. "W-We're sorry!" The female waitress apologized as she had placed their cups down as well as the jar bottle of sake.

The man sneered at her as she had walked towards Taiga's table, "I just want some hanami dango and white tea." She ordered, the woman nodding and then headed to the back. Looking back to the strange men, Taiga could see them eyeing people in the restaurant, probably picking on who they would bother next or were they there for another reason?

"So, did you hear about that village in Yama valley? They said one man slaughtered everyone in the village." One of the thugs had said, "Just him, all by himself."

"Heh, what did he do it for? Was it a raid?" The ponytail-wearing male asked, leaning in as he was curious of the story.

"They said he's looking for someone and the whole village lied about where that person was and so he killed them." The way he said it so matter-of-factly had left a bad taste in Taiga's mouth. "They said he's looking for a man named Yuuma."

Her ears had perked upon the sound of the name. "Yuuma? Why would he be searching for Yuuma? Yuuma is one of the most dangerous rogue samurai criminal in the world. If found, he's supposed to be killed on sight."

Taiga's eyes had lowered but then noticed the plate that was place in front of her, three sticks of green, white, and pink dangos and the teacup a reasonable distance away from the plate. She had given a nod of gratitude to the waitress while continuing to listen, "I guess everyone's plotting on revenge against him."

Taking a bite of the first dango, she had chewed and listened diligently. "Well, it doesn't matter anyway. Yuuma has been missing for almost, well, three years. I guess the old man decided to stop killing."

Every day there was a new rumor about Yuuma and she wasn't sure if they were reliable, but either way she knew that staying in this village would give her a better clue as to where he was. Somehow.

After finishing her meal and tea, she had placed the money on the table but soon as she was getting ready to leave, the thugs decided to act up. "Whoa whoa! Wadda yea mean, 'no'?!"

"Stop it! Let go of me!" It was the waitress' voice. Taiga's gaze had swept over to the situation, her eyes narrowing.

"We're patriots, fightin' every day to kick those damn ninjas out of our villages! The least you can do is give us a little more booze! Or maybe, even, heh, a little...company...?" The clump of men were harassing the young girl and it seemed like nobody was going to do anything about it.

All eyes were lowered, focused on their food. Was these men supposed to be feared or were the people here just cowards? "Well well well." Taiga inched took a few steps closer, "Guess being a patriot doesn't mean what it used to if we've got men like you throwing around."

"Are you jealous that we didn't ask for your company?" There was no use talking and she was already getting aggravate. A predatory smile appeared on her face, her hand falling on the haft of Honjo Masamune. There was no mirth in that rictus grin of hers, and the men's face grew several shades paler.

Female samurai or more like onne-bugeisha weren't common in these small villages. So they were only somewhat deflated. "Get out of here you stupid bitch!" One man yelled, the tension growing from bad to worse.

Nobody saw it happen. Not even the glint of the blade or the sound of it slicing the air. Nobody had seen a thing.

All they saw was the men's clothes ripped to shreds and they were down in their boxers, revealing their scrawny bodies to everyone in the teahouse. Customers had burst in a fit of laughter, the men unsure of what people were laughing about until they felt the cold air touched the bare skin.

Any color left had completely drained from their faces, and they turned tail and ran. "At least they were smart enough to run." Taiga mumbled, rolling her shoulder and cracking her neck. "Um... My name is Natsu Suzumoto. Thank you for saving me." The waitress said as she had given a quick bow. She was so refined; so lady-like.

"Why did you tell me your name? I didn't ask." Taiga said, raising a brow. The girl had lowered her eyes, seemingly embarrassed. "My name is Taiga."

"Taiga..." She repeated the name as to keep it in memory, "I wish to thank you properly—"

Shaking her head, Taiga had given her a small smile and turned away. "It's fine. Don't worry about it." Not even giving a proper goodbye, she had walked out of the teahouse and entered back into the village. "Now for an inn..."

"That's her, 'Tou-san! She's the one who destroyed our clothes." Taiga had sighed, looking to her right to see a group of men gathered around together. The thugs whose clothes she had shredded were too busy pointing at her while at the same time trying to cover their boxers.

"Why can't I get a break...?" She whined, stomping her feet slightly as they had made their way over to her. "Look, your kid was harassing a girl. They threatened me and I ended it." She said as the tall men had wore a deep frown and then unsheathed their swords. "Okay, so I guess talking isn't going to cut it."

Suddenly, she was surrounded. And it wasn't by the group of samurai.

Her eyes had widened when she had caught the spiky yellow hair that she had seen before. "Don't worry, we'll protect you." He said to her, looking at her from over his shoulder.

Taiga had lowered her head, making sure that he couldn't see her face. He should've recognized her immediately. "I didn't ask for your protection..." She mumbled, "But whatever."

"Listen up, punk! Who do you think you are attacking someone when it's seven of you and just one of them?" He yelled.

Her eyes had looked left to see the pink-haired girl, Sakura, from before and then to her right to see the pale boy, Sai. All of them were in the village? She had then looked behind her over her shoulder to see two instructors; Yamato and then one with silver-hair. Could her luck get even worse?

"Are you okay? Do you have any injuries?" Sakura queried, but the girl had taken a step away from her, surprising her.

"I'm fine." Taiga muttered, taking her sword from the sword belt and using it to move the jinchuuriki to the side. "I don't need any of your help. I was fine by myself."

"Huh? But how can you—"

Was he underestimating her? Gritting her teeth, she had growled. "Watch me."

Taiga had ran forward, unsheathing Honji Masamune, she had went for the man in front, who attempted to smash aside her strike but after blow after blow of his defense being crashed, he had no time to do anything. Not even no time to even breathe. "C'mon! That all you got?!" She roared as she hit the man's sword one more time, breaking it from the hilt.

The man was startled, dropping the handle and taking a few steps back while the other man went forward in an attempts to protect him. Sweeping the blade in a quick strike, the next man had his sword rebound and was forced back.

Taiga leapt forward, her sword moving to fast for the eye to see: a line of blood simply appeared on the boy's father's face. He clapped his hand to it in surprise and pain, and jumped backward, trying to put space between them.

The man simply stared, eyes wide, at the blood that fell form his face to pool in his hand. "Damn you!" The man uttered, "Damn you, you wench!" He turn and ran, his son following him and his group. Taiga had sheathed his sword, catching her breath. "Wow, that was amazing!" The girl had said as they had all stood around her.

She kept her head lowered, trying not to get any attention to her face. "Wait..." Yamato muttered, the girl's eyes widened. "You seem awfully familiar."

"Taiga." Sai had said her name, all of them looking in shock. The one person who didn't was the spiky, silver-haired man with a face mask.

"The girl that was in Orochimaru's hideout?" He spoke, trying to register what was going on.

Seeing as she couldn't hide her identity anymore, she had looked up at them and sighed. "What are you going to do, take me into custody?"

"Why are you here? Is Sasuke—" Naruto began to get into a fully interrogation.

Rolling her eyes, she had folded her arms under her bust. "Sasuke isn't here. Sasuke and I have separated days ago before—"

"He killed Orochimaru, right?" Yamato finished, the girl nodded her head in answer. "That still doesn't explain why you're here and we have the right to detain you because you're a criminal."

Tilting her head back, she had closed her eyes in aggravation. "And how am I a criminal? Because you saw me Orochimaru-sama's hideout? I have not committed a single crime."

Yamato was stunned for a moment, "I'm here for my own reasons. I have no reason or obligation to answer you. And no, I don't know where Sasuke is. So don't even bother to ask."

"But you do know what he's planning to do, don't you?" Sakura had asked her, "I mean you seemed to know him pretty well."

"To have known Sasuke as long as you've all had, I'm pretty sure you guys know what he is going to do." Taiga sighed, "If you don't then you shouldn't go after him; you shouldn't go after him regardless."

Pushing past Naruto, she had walked ahead. "He's looking for Itachi..." He muttered, now putting two and two together. "But why didn't you go with him?"

"Because I'm looking for my own Itachi." She simply answered, "Now if you'll excuse me."

"Is the man you're looking for Yuuma?"

* * *

**Author's Note:**


	4. Chapter Three: Hesitation

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. Masashi Kishimoto does!

* * *

Everyone had turned around to the voice, Taiga's eyes had widened. It had been such a long time since she had seen those faces and she wasn't even sure how she should feel upon seeing them, "It's been a long time, Taiga."

Taiga had quickly used the back of her pointer finger to wipe a tear at the corner of her right eye. "C-senpai, Darui-senpai..." Both Kumogakure shinobi had slightly smiled as they stood with a few ninjas behind them.

Darui was tall, dark-skinned and shaggy, white hair that covered his left eye. He always wore such a lazy expression. C had short, blond hair and dark eyes. He was pale and wore a sleeveless black shirt with a one-strap-over-one shoulder like Darui. He had black-elbow length arm-guards while Darui had bandages on his wrist. "Sorry it's been so long."

Shaking her head, she had wore a very radiant smile. "You're still apologizing for everything? It's not your fault."

"Kakashi-sensei, these are Kumogakure shinobi?" Sakura questioned, the jounin nodded as an answer. "Taiga-san, are you from... Kumogakure?"

Her eyes had looked over towards the pink-haired kunoichi and gave a nod. "Kumogakure was my home before I left." She said simply.

"So, Kumogakure is also looking for Yuuma?" Yamato had then asked.

Darui and C gave a nod, "He's after from our country. We just heard recently that he was in this area. Raikage-sama told us to come here, and he also said to be on the lookout for Taiga."

The Raikage was looking for her? It figures. She was a missing-nin from Kumo and she had to be captured as well. "Are you taking me into custody?"

"That's what we're supposed to do." C had said, placing a hand on his hip. "But Raikage-sama said we should assist you."

Assist...her? Taiga's mouth was open in shock, surprised that he had taken such an action. "Looks like we'll have to work with Konohagakure." Darui then spoke up, "We're in the Land of Fire and he has caused trouble for a lot of people."

"Yes, Konoha shinobi were killed by him." Yamato had said, "Which is the reason why we were put on this mission."

Darui nodded, "Then we should work comfortably together."

The Uzumaki had looked over towards Taiga, noticing her looking down at the ground in thought. "Uh, Taiga, is it?"

"What?" She said without turning to look at him.

"Why are you looking for Yuuma?" He had asked, Darui and C had looked at her to see how she would answer. Taiga hadn't said anything but instead walked ahead. "Hm..." He hummed.

Sakura then took the initiative, "Why is Taiga tracking down Yuuma?" She had asked Darui and C.

Both shinobi had looked at one another but C spoke instead, "He's caused a lot of grief in her life. It's not my business to tell what he has done and it's not your business to ask."

The kunoichi had nodded understandingly and then looked towards Taiga, who had gained some distance from them. "Well, we should be picking a place to stay. We'll be here for a while." Kakashi had said.

Naruto had then taken a few steps ahead, following in the same direction as Taiga had went. "I'll catch up with you guys later." He said to them before running in the direction she went. "Hey, Taiga-san."

"Just what does he think he's doing?" Yamato groaned, "He keeps trying to do things his own way."

"That's just how he is." Kakashi sighed, "But I'm sure he's just still curious of Taiga and Yuuma's relationship. I'm curious myself." His hands were buried in his pockets, his lone eye watching the two teenagers.

Sai had spoke up, "Maybe he's more curious about her relationship with Sasuke."

The Konoha shinobi had then nodded, agreeing with that notion.

Looking towards her right, Taiga had rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"

"You're pretty good with a sword," Naruto said, ignoring the hostility in her tone. "And it looks like Sasuke got good with one too."

Taiga had remained silent, not wanting to have a conversation with him. She didn't care what he had to say. He was just a nuisance.

"Heh, I guess you find me annoying too, huh?" He scratching he cheek nervously, giving her a toothy smile. Her eyes looked at the corners, observing his expression.

Both Sasuke and Naruto had such polar personalities that she wasn't sure if she could believe that they were in fact friends at one point. "What do you want?" She repeated, "If you're following me just to get on my nerves then leave me alone. I'm not in the mood for it."

His bright eyes had softened, he frowned as he had looked somewhat defeated. "I wanted to get to know you."

Her footsteps had ceased as did his. A eyebrow had rose in surprise, her eyes trying to see if he was trying to deceive her. "Get to know me why?"

"Well..." Naruto trailed, "You're Sasuke's friend so... A friend of Sasuke's should be a friend of mine."

Her eyes had widened, she had then closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "Sasuke and I aren't friends."

"But you two seemed really close and—"

"Didn't Sasuke tell you he had only one bond? And that's the bond of hatred with Itachi." She interrupted him, and she could tell that her words had pained him.

After seeing how he was back in the hideout, she knew he wasn't going to give up. He was the persistent type. And she found that really annoying. "You just don't cut off bonds." The look on his face had shown how serious he was. "You can try to sever them, you can ignore them but they are never really gone. I know Sasuke wants to focus on his hate for Itachi... But that doesn't mean I can accept him ignoring the bond that we had fought so hard to make. I'll never let that go and I'm sure Sasuke, even though he's unwilling to admit it, has really let it go."

What did he expect her to say? Did he want her to give him false hope? He was so sure in his beliefs that even if she tried to change his mind or proved him wrong, he would still believe in what he said. What purpose would there be? "Whatever." She said, unsure of what else to say.

"Taiga." He called her name again, but she didn't bother to stop walking. "Taiga, can we at least—"

"Can you leave me alone?" She finally snapped, spinning on her heel. "You just keep raging on and on about Sasuke and I don't want to hear it, alright? You and I will never be friends, so leave me alone!"

His mouth had formed a thin line, his eyes softening. The hurt on his face was clear and it made her uncomfortable. Why did he look do disappointed? Was he really trying? No, she couldn't feel guilty. He deserved it. He was annoying.

The blonde shinobi made no efforts to follow her, just continuing to stand in the place where she had left him. Taiga wasn't even sure where she was going, she didn't want to be surrounded by anyone. She needed solitude.

**o**O**o**

_The smell of rain was heavy in the air, filling her nostrils as she could feel the blood gushing out of the wound that was deep in her abdomen. Her small hands kept placing pressure, trying to stop the bleeding. She was shaking, her other hand over her mouth to muffle her cries. _

_Why was this happening? What went wrong? Nothing seemed to make any sense. _

_She had kept herself in the closet, seeing this as the only safe place due to what was happening outside. The shrill screams of those that have been attacked had ripped through the air, the sound of a blade meeting flesh coming before it. It sounded wet, just the sound of it all made her want to vomit. _

_Tears kept spilling out the corner of her eyes as she had looked at the closet door, hoping that they wouldn't open. The foot steps were slowly creeping closer to the room she was in, her heart felt like it was going to leap out of her chest. 'Please...' She begged in thought, 'Please don't come here. Don't find me—' _

_The closet door had immediately slid open, her eyes had slowly looked up at the figure before her. They looked to be just a shadow, their face completely masked in darkness. Before she could tear out a scream—_

Taiga jolted from the bed, her chest rising up and down rapidly as she had to fight to breathe, her heart pounding relentlessly. Her body was glistening from the thin sheet of sweat and her blankets were in a disarray from the constant thrashing, rolling, and fighting in her sleep. Her petite hands had slowly went to her face and massaged her temples as she had tried to wipe clean of the memory of her nightmares and tried to steady her breathing. It felt horrible to wake up like this but it felt even worse for the nightmare to resume.

Slowly, Taiga had slid her hands down form the sides of her face, letting them limply fall on the bed as she tilted her head back and briefly closed her eyes for a maximum of two minutes. Sitting there in silence would help her get back her composure. And the words of comfort she would mutter that had soothed her yet made her realize how much of wreak she was. Those words, it was basically a mantra, a mantra that meant she was safe and she didn't have to remember. "He's not here. He's not here. He's not here."

Once she got in her place of comfort, a sigh of relief had escaped her lips and she combed her slender fingers through her messy hair. She felt too awake to take herself back to sleep and she was also fearing that the nightmare might reoccur. Sometimes they would repeat themselves and other times they wouldn't, but she didn't feel like chancing it now and wanted to stay awake. Her fingers had stopped combing through her hair as she had felt a slight itch, she had slightly graze her finger nails in the area of the itch. "Ugh.." groaned Taiga as she had tilted her head forward and lightly hitting the side of her head with the palm of her right hand.

The door to her room had slid open, her eyes looking up to see that it was C. "C-senpai..." She muttered, "What are you—"

"I was just checking to see if you were awake." He had said, noticing the strange haze over her eyes. "Is everything alright?"

Taiga had stared in space for a few minutes before nodding her head, "Yeah... I'm fine."

C's eyes had squinted skeptically but he decided not to look further into it. "You should eat breakfast. Will you be eating by yourself or will you join Darui and I with the Konoha shinobi?"

"Why are you all eating together?" Taiga questioned.

"To gather information together to make the search easier. When you left, we had gone around the town asking for questions about Yuuma. We all received different answers and that's why we need to compile them together."

His answer made absolute sense. Taiga had sighed, "I'll join you all. Just give me a few minutes to get myself together."

"Are you sure you're alright?" He queried, "If you're not feeling well then—"

"Did I say I didn't feel well? Don't keep asking me." She was growing annoyed by his persistence. C's brows had knitted together and he had left the room, shutting the door shut behind him.

Standing up, she had curled her toes as she had tried to figure out how to fix her mood. The nightmare was leaving this heavy feeling on her shoulders and chest, she wanted to get some fresh air and to keep her distance from the rest but that wasn't going to work.

How did they expect her to want to team up with them? They were just going to get in the way. Yuuma was her kill, hers alone. Why should anyone place their hands in it?

There was no time to complain, however. She would have to get used to it if she ever even dreamed of seeing that man's face again with her sword embedding in him. Huffing, she had changed to her regular civilian clothes after a shower. Reluctantly leaving the room, she had walked towards the dining room down the hall and made a right after two doors down. At the end of the hall, it was the Uzumaki's room that he was sharing with the two instructors and Sai.

Lightly biting her cheek, she had walked in the room casually. "Good morning, Taiga-san!" His smile was bright, too bright for the morning. Taiga glanced at the blonde and looked away.

"Good morning..." She managed to mutter before sitting down between C and Darui. "Now," she caught everyone's attention as she had split her chopsticks apart and picked up a piece of an omelet. "What did any of you find yesterday."

Yamato had knitted his brows, his arms folded. "Tch," he sucked his teeth as she had placed the cooked egg in her mouth, her eyes closed. "When did I sign up for taking orders from a bra—"

Before he could finish the sentence, his lips were squeezed shut by a pair of chopstick. Everyone was surprised by the quick notion, Taiga glaring at the man from the corner of her eyes. "Listen here," Her voice was in a very serious and no nonsense tone, "this is **_my_** mission. Piss me off if you want to and you'll see if I'll play nice or not. Do not try me, you've been warned."

The leaf ninja were surprised by her actions while the Cloud ninjas were not. C continued to casually eat as if nothing had happened while Darui had sighed, "I apologize for Taiga-san's behavior." He then placed his hand lightly on the girl's arm, she had looked at him as he gave her a stare.

Releasing the shinobi's lips, she had continued to eat. Yamato looked dumbfounded, unable to believe that just transpired. Naruto withheld his laugh, sweat already beginning to bead down his face while Kakashi looked away to contain his. "Anyway," Sakura cleared her throat to shift the attention to her, "Sai-san and I found out that the man who is looking for Yuuma's name."

Taiga had rose a brow, her new pair of chopsticks lingering on her bottom lip as she had chewed her food. "What is it?" She said, mouth still halfway full of food.

"His name is Ryuuji and he's a shinobi." Sakura continued, "We don't know what village he's from since he doesn't carry a headband but we can assume that he's a rogue since they claim he wondered around."

"He also appears to be a young man, in his late teens to early twenties." Sai added, "His physical features were repeatedly said to be of red eyes and white hair."

"He doesn't sound familiar." Taiga mumbled, swallowing down her food. "He probably has a good reason to be after him but slaughtering villages isn't necessary."

"There's also a rumor that some people don't believe that the one who has been doing these vicious killings are Yuuma but someone else." Kakashi explained his information, "Which would mean either someone is working with Yuuma or using his name for publicity."

Taiga had shaken her head, "I won't be able to tell if I don't see the body's."

Silence fell in the group. "What do you mean?" Sakura questioned, "Does Yuuma kill people...in a certain way?"

Taiga gave her a nod, "Yuuma is the most skilled swordsman I know. His blades make clean cuts, better than a surgeon with a scalpel. If the cuts aren't precise and clean-cut then I know it's not him. He also does quick kills unless he was intentionally going after that person then he wanted them to suffer."

Naruto's eyes had softened, looking at the girl with a cross of worry and curiosity. "Either way, we'll find this guy." She wasn't sure if he was trying to reassure her or the group.

"Either way, Yuuma is mine." Taiga made it clear once more, "Nobody is to touch him but me."

She had then placed her chopsticks down, standing from the table. "Where are you going?" C asked as she had walked towards the door.

Her eyes didn't leave the door, her fingers bawling up. "I'm going to the village that Yuuma supposedly slaughtered. I have to see the bodies for myself."

Naruto had quickly stood, "You can't go by yourself!"

"Exactly." Kakashi commented, "We'll go with you in case things get awry."

Clenching her teeth, she had opened the door. "I'm going by myself. I can take care of myself, I don't need any of you to babysit me."

"It's not about babysitting you!" Naruto yelled, "It's about you don't know what can happen. You can be ambushed!"

"And you think I won't be able to take care of myself? I've been taking care of myself for all my life, I don't need any idiot coming to my rescue!" Her eyes were ablaze as she and the Uzumaki locked eyes.

Yamato had sighed, "At least take one person with you."

"No." And with that, she had stepped out of the room and shut the door behind her before walking down the hall.

Naruto glared at the door, "Naruto." Kakashi had called him, "Keep tabs on her but keep your distance."

"I was going to do that anyway." The blond said with a smile, "What are you guys going to do?"

"Kakashi, Darui, and I are going to check out the neighboring villages while Yamto, Sakura, and Sai are going to keep an eye on this village." C explained, "That way they can handle whatever if something happens here."

Naruto nodded understandingly. "Good luck, Naruto." Sakura said, which surprised the blond shinobi.

He scratched his cheek as he appeared flustered, "Thank you, Sakura-chan."

He spun on his heels and ran, trying to make sure he caught up with Taiga but made sure she didn't sense him nearby. As he left the inn, he followed her towards the entrance of the village. Her sword was on her hip and her steps didn't seem as if she was in a rush, in fact he would say that she was moving quite reluctantly. Was she afraid of what she was going to see or was she wary?

The nearby village wasn't far but as she had taken the forest path, he had taken the branches of the nearby trees, making sure he was silent the whole while.

Before they had reached the village's gate, the smell of blood was thick in the air. The corpses had already taken on a foul stench, which made Naruto immediately cover his nose with his sleeve. His eyes had briefly looked towards Taiga, to see that she was braving the smell.

She had walked in without so much as pausing or gathering fresh air, his eyes widened upon the sight and it made him wonder if she too, had witnessed something like this before.

Taiga had looked around at the bodies all around, raging from children to adults. A flashback appeared before her eyes, the image of the corpses reminding her of what she had seen before. She had squeezed her eyes shut for a few seconds before opening them again, braving the sight before her.

Hesitantly, she had walked over towards a corpse and held her breath. Her eyes scanned over towards the wounds inflicted on them as she bended her knees to get a better look. Her eyes widened as the wound that was where the neck and shoulder had met. "It's...It's clean." Taiga muttered in shock.

The precise of the hit was so clear, she didn't have to check any of the other wounds. She knew this was Yuuma's handwork, she didn't have to second guess. Standing up, she had tilted her held back and took a deep breath.

"So, was it him?"

She knew he followed her, it wasn't a surprise to hear his voice. She wondered how long it would take before he made his presence known. "Yeah, it was." Taiga had turned around, looking at the Konoha shinobi.

"How can you stand the smell?" He asked, his arm still covering his nose.

"Because I've been in a situation like this before." Taiga had walked towards what appeared to be a workshop, looking for something.

Naruto watched curiously as she had looked around. His eyes had softened when he noticed that she had picked up a shovel. She was going to bury the bodies of the villagers.

Naruto had ran over to the workshop to find a spare shovel, and when he had found one, he had began to dig graves for the villagers alongside her.

He decided not to speak so they could both concentrate on the task before hand. Taiga's eyes briefly observed him, wondering why he decided to help. She wasn't sure if he was doing for her or out of the kindness of his own heart.

It didn't matter, there were still a lot of bodies and the more help, the merrier.

They remained silent and even helped each other lift bodies into the graves they had dug, even going as far to place flowers on the graves and giving them a silent prayer.

Now that their work was done, there was an awkward silence between them. "It's nice... that you did this for them." He murmured, not wanting the awkwardness to linger as he had tapped his feet against the ground.

Feeling as though being harsh to him wasn't appropriate after what he had done for her, she decided to be more cooperative. "They deserved to be buried. It's the least they deserve since I can't give them bac what was taken from them."

He hadn't said anything but simply nodded, remaining silent for a few more minutes. "We should go back to Hisakawa village." He said, pointing over his shoulder.

Taiga had gave him an agreeing nod and they had walked together, leaving the empty village and taking the forest path. "The reason you want to find Yuuma is for revenge, isn't it?"

Her magenta colored eyes had glimpsed at him but then paid attention ahead. "Mm." She hummed. "It is revenge."

"You know," Her eyes had looked back at him, "revenge isn't everything."

"I'm living for my revenge. Without it, I have nothing to live for. I should've died years ago." Her sudden words shocked him, the Uzumaki had ceased to walk and she had took a few more steps before looking at him. "Every day is a day closer to my revenge, I can't live knowing he's alive. I can't live knowing that I did not kill him for what he has done."

Whatever Yuuma had done to Taiga must've been a seriously deep wound. The look in her eyes were cold, bilious. There was no changing her mind. "What did he do to you? Did he kill someone you loved?"

"Yuuma did more than kill someone I loved. He took my life, my world, and turn it into a nightmare." Her eyes had closed briefly, "He took everything."

Naruto for sure knew he wasn't going to get a straight answer from her but he wasn't sure I it was because it was painful for her to explain the story or because she just didn't trust him with such vulnerable information. "What will you do after you've gotten vengeance?"

Her eyes had opened halfway, contemplating. "...I don't know, that's assuming I don't die in battle."

"You plan to die while fighting Yuuma?!" He bellowed, angry that she was going to throw her life away.

An eyebrow rose in confusion, wondering why he seemed so upset. "I thought it was obvious that I have no idea how to live my life. I live for the sole purpose of vengeance."

"There's more to life than just revenge!" Naruto had gripped her shoulders, shaking her slightly as if to snap her out of her thoughts. "You're an amazing swordswoman, and someone like you should continue to be a shinobi. Protect others, do good."

His eyes were locked on hers, not looking away; never breaking concentration. Taiga had glared back at him, not backing down or feeling like she wanted to take back what she said. "What am I supposed to do? Become an instructor? There are millions of others that are good with a sword, I'm no-"

Grabbing his waist, she had spun them around and had taken quite a heavy slash on her back. The kunoichi yelped in pain as Naruto's eyes had widened from seeing her blood spill. "Taiga!"

"I'm fine." She groaned, standing in front of him protectively and unsheathing her sword. "Who are you?! Come on out!"

A figure had appeared before them. It was a young man, either in his late teens or earlier twenties. His hair was a bright white, messy and pulled into a high ponytail. His eyes were a bright shade of red and slant, holding a mischievous essence about them. "You must be Ryuuji." Taiga had said, Naruto's eyes narrowing at the male.

"Hm, you've heard about me already? Shame." He sighed, "And here I thought I had the element of surprise."

Taiga was through talking, wincing at the pain from the wound on her back. "Naruto, stay out of it." She warned him first.

"You can't take him out with that wound!" He tried to interfere but when she had given him such a serious expression, which meant he couldn't talk her out of it, he bit his tongue and stayed put.

Her sword whipped through the air, a little more than a silvery blur. Ryuuji had caught each blow as best he could but a particularly powerful string from above was too much for his skill to counter, and he stumbled. "Wow, you're quite the strong one. How could I have underestimated."

"Shut the hell up!" Her foot connected with the center of Ryuuji's chest. There was a wet crunch as the kick connected, Ryuuji tumbled across the forest floor.

"Argh!" He coughed up, still in shock by her brutality as he gripped his chest with one hand and coughed blood.

Naruto was surprised by the girl's strength but he knew she was over exerting herself because she was going to weaken by the wound. "Where the hell is Yuuma?!"

The white-haired male's face was tight with pain, and the most he seemed able to manage were labored gasps and wet, tearing coughs. He was no longer in no condition to fight in just that short while.

When it came to Yuuma, Taiga was more than serious. "Taiga, your wound is getting worse. You have to get treated." Naruto warned, running over to her as he watched her legs buckle and she had fell to her knees, digging her fingers into the dirt. "Taiga!"

Her breathing was heavy, her eyes a bit hazy but she had blinked a couple of times to regain her vision. She had pointed her sword straight at Ryuuji, the tip of his blade pointed right at him. "Where the hell is Yuuma?!" She bellowed once again, shaking her head furiously. "I'm not letting him get away without an answer."

"I don't think he can get away if he wanted to right now." Naruto mumbled as he began to do a few handsigns. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" He said as he created a shadow clone, who had went over and slugged Ryuuji over his shoulder. "You need to be treated." He said to Taiga, bending his knees, "Climb on my back."

Her eyes narrowed as she was reluctant, but seeing how she couldn't afford to be stubborn, she sheathed her sword and wrapped her arms loosely around his neck as he had lifted her up, his hands at the back of her thighs as he began to run back towards the village.

Taiga had squeezed her eyes shut, annoyed at how she had been so easily wounded.

It didn't take long before they reached Hisakawa village and Naruto had frantically searched for Sakura to heal both Taiga and Ryuuji. He ran down the village street, wondering where they were patrolling. When he caught a glimpse of pink hair, he leapted forward and landed in front of the kunoichi.

"Naruto? Taiga." She blinked twice, her green eyes trying to register what was before her.

"Taiga is wounded and we found Ryuuji, I need you to heal Taiga and heal Ryuuji enough so that he can speak. Taiga went a bit too far while trying to get information out of him." Sakura nodded.

"Let's get back to the inn." She said as they had began to run towards the place they were staying. When they made it inside, they had immediately ran towards the room the Uzumaki was occupying and placed Taiga down.

Naruto had watched, waiting for the medical-nin to begin her magic but something had felt off. Then, there was a cloud of smoke. Naruto noticing that Ryuuji had disappeared, proving that it was just a clone.

"Huh?!" He said, unsure of how that had slipped past him. Sakura had blinked twice, "That was just a clone?"

"He must've did a clone jutsu while I was focusing on Taiga." He grit his teeth, focusing back to Sakura. "Is she going to be alright?"

He noticed the frown on the pink-haired girl's face, the girl shaking her head. "We need to take her to Konoha immediately. It seems there was poison on the blade. It's curable, I've seen it before but she can't stay here."

His eyes had shifted towards Taiga, knowing that she would be angry under these circumstances but they had no choice. She had to live first.

**o**O**o****  
**

Three weeks had passed by and today was the first day that Taiga had awoken. Her eyes immediately drunk up her surroundings, leading her to know that she was in a hospital. She had known for sure that her wound wasn't that serious, she had dealt with wounds like that before. Why did they have to send her to the hospital? And undoubtedly, far away from Hisakawa village.

The hospital doors had slide open, her eyes immediately looking towards who had came into her room. It figured that the first person she would be seeing so brightly and early in the morning was Naruto himself. As he walked over to her bed, he had stopped upon knowing that she was awake. "Taiga-san!"

It was off putting by how happy he was but she couldn't figure out the reasoning of why the corners of her mouth had lifted upward in a smile. "It's been three weeks since you've been awake."

That smile immediately turned into a frown. "Three weeks?!"

He nodded, "That Ryuuji guy poisoned you. That's why you're in Konoha, we had to get you to some place where you could properly be cured." He explained, she was no understanding why they had taken her here. "He also got away, he used a clone jutsu when I thought I captured him. I seems he left, I guess you gave him a scare." He cheesed, his hand rubbing the back of his neck.

Her mind then flashed the memories of how she had handled the swordsman, not too fond of the force and violence she used but her emotions had override all thought at that very moment. "I was stupid."

"You were angry." He tried to justify her behavior, "Which was understandable."

He truly was annoying. "I guess I'm not leaving this place no time soon, huh?"

"Until Sakura-chan says you can." He nodded, "She wasn't expecting you to take such a long rest but she said it was your body catching up with you."

The doors had opened again, her eyes looking to see a rather unfamiliar face. It was a tall man with waist-length, spiky white hair that was tied back into a ponytail. His bangs were shoulder length that framed both sides of his face. There were red lines that ran down from his eyes and his forehead protector, the ninja headband, was horned with the word "Oil" written with Kanji on it.

He wore a green short shirt-like kimono and matching pants with hand guards, a black belt, geta, a re haori with two simple yellow circles on each side, and a scroll on his back. He was certainly a rather sight to see but she couldn't fanthom why he was here to see her. Naruto's eyes lit up when he looked at the man, which made her feel even more uneasy for one reason or another. "Ero-sennin."

...Did he just call that guy Ero-sennin? "So this is Taiga, the girl I've heard about." He said as he had walked over to her bed, her eyes dully looking up at him with faint aggravation and curiosity. "Nice to meet you, Taiga, I'm Jiraiya."

"Jiraiya?" She repeated his name, her eyes slightly widening. "One of the legendary sannin?!"

"That's me!" He pointed his thumb towards his chest, a smile on his face. "But just like you've heard a lot about me, I've heard a lot about you."

Her eyes looked away from the man and then to Naruto, "You've been talking about me?" It was all in playful irritation as she had rose an eyebrow.

The Uzumaki looked nervous, rubbing the back of his head bashfully. "I just told him that, uh, you were pretty good with a sword and all and we're on a mission together!"

Why did he sound like he was being interrogated? Did she really scare him? Taiga had looked back at Jiraiya with a small smile. "It really is an honor to meet you, Jiraiya-sama."

Naruto was surprised by her smile, his eyes widening a fraction. "How come when Ero-sennin is here, he gets treated nicely while I'm getting yelled or glared at?!" He asked, grumbling as his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Do you want to piss me off, Uzumaki?" She questioned, her smile faltering.

Jiraiya had chuckled, "You sure do befriend that hostile ones, don't you?" He teased his student, "How about when you're outta this place that we go get some ramen together? My treat!"

"Ramen?" Taiga repeated, wondering why he had chose it.

"All right!" Naruto beamed, throwing his fist in the air which made Taiga look at him skeptically. Why was her release was about getting food that he liked? What if she wanted dumplings? Instead of fussing, like she wanted to, she accepted it. It wasn't like everyday you eat lunch with a legendary sannin.

"How does it sound?" Jiraiya asked her.

She gave him a nod, "I'll be looking forward to it."

The door had opened once again except two figures had stepped in. One was Sakura and the other was a woman with brown eyes and straight, blonde hair. Her was waist-length like the sannin next to her bed with shoulder-length bangs framing both sides of her face as well. Her hair was styled in two-loose ponytails. There was a diamond shaped mark on her forehead, which seemed to stand out the most.

Her outfit consisted of a green haori, a shade of green that reminded one of grass with a grey, kimono-like shirt with no sleeves and a broad, dark bluish-grey obi that matched her pants. Another notable thing about the woman was her large breast and revealing cleavage, which made Taiga look down at her own and feel inadequate despite having a large bust of her own, but it was nothing compared to the woman's.

"Granny Tsunade!" The blonde had said happily as Taiga blinked twice. Tsunade? Tsunade... She thought she could recall Sasuke briefly mentioning her, but then again, she wasn't sure.

"How are you feeling?" The woman had asked, placing her hand on her forehead to check for any signs of a fever.

Taiga sighed, "I feel well-rested but there's a slight sore on my back. Did it leave a scar?"

The woman shook her head, "Since it was taken cared of right away, no there's no scar." She said, her pink lipstick covered lips had smiled.

"It's thanks to Sakura-san." Taiga had said, the pink-haired kunoichi giving a small smile. "And Naruto." Her eyes had shifted towards him, as he had rubbed the back of his head shyly once more.

"Naruto told us what happened." Tsunade had sighed, "I didn't figure it would be easy but he's been quiet, that Ryuuji that is. The village seems to be protected due to us putting several ninjas there and spying for anything suspicious."

"No signs of Ryuuji?" Taiga questioned, Sakura and Tsunade had both shaken their heads. "He'll be back soon, he probably needs to recover."

The woman chuckled, making Taiga look at her in surprise. "Naruto told us what you did to him. I say atta girl."

The Kumo kunoichi had chuckled, "I really didn't mean to do all of that, I was just angry."

"The Raikage told me all about Yuuma, you have every right to be." Naruto and Sakura had looked at Tsunade, surprised that she knew Taiga's past.

Her magenta eyes had softened as the blonde-haired woman had placed a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder, trying to ease her and let her know that her pain was justified. "Thank you..." She muttered, the woman nodded.

"I think Taiga needs a little more rest and space." Tsunade told them all, "Sakura will be back to check on you periodically."

Taiga nodded as Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Sakura had left first. Naruto had lingered a little bit longer, Taiga had sighed. "I guess it's only fair to tell you why chasing Yuuma means my entire life."

Her words had caught him off guard, his eyes immediately looking over to her in surprise. "Taiga-san, if you feel uncomfortable then—"

"The reason why I didn't tell you at first is because I didn't trust you." Taiga interrupted, "But because you're helping me look for him and not out of your own gain, I think it's fine that you know."

* * *

**Author's Note:**


	5. Chapter Four: Trust and Ramen

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. Masashi Kishimoto does!

* * *

Anxious about the story, he had sat at the edge of the bed as her hands had rested on her lap. Taiga had looked out the window, seeing children rip and run down the streets of the foreign village. Her eyes glistened upon the sight of them but the haze over them became much more serious when she glanced over to Naruto. "I was eleven when Yuuma infiltrated our clan's territory. In Kumogakure, our clan, the Sanemori clan, was known for their swordsmanship. We trained the best samurais and the best shinobi. We also crafted remarkable swords."

He listened intently to her story, "Yuuma was supposed to be head of the clan, my grandfather was the leader of the clan at the time and my mother his daughter but my grandfather did not think he deserved that responsibility. He said Yuuma was uncooperative and too self-absorbed. And so the rivalry ensued between them for years."

"Finally, Yuuma decided to take matters in his own hands. He knew he was going to be tossed out of the clan, his decisions reckless and his swords too dangerous." Taiga closed her eyes, "And he was withholding a secret over my grandfather."

"A secret?" Naruto repeated, "What secret was that?"

"My mother was having a long affair with Yuuma, already married to another man due to it being an arranged marriage. She had fell in love with Yuuma despite the odds." She sighed, "And out of that affair, I was born out of it."

There was no words to describe the shock on Naruto's face, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets as she had hit that revelation on him, not even holding back a punch. "W-What?!"

She nodded, confirming what she said was true. "That's right," She continued, sighing. "Yuuma is my father, and my father had slaughtered the family clan because he felt he was treated unfairly, my mother would not leave her husband, and it seemed like all turned their backs on him. I didn't even know he was my father and I believe he doesn't even know that I am his child."

He didn't know what to do. In a way, he wanted to comfort her but how does someone comfort someone after being told that? And the last thing she probably wanted was pity, but she knew that he would pity her anyway. "But how do you know?"

"A week before his attack, my mother had written a confession letter to Yuuma. She had been writing to him whenever she couldn't see him, and she told him the truth but the letter never made it." She explained, "But it doesn't justify how he killed so many innocent lives and he tried to kill me as if it was my fault for how poorly he was treated. And he made my mother suffer the most."

"He made me watch her die." Naruto heard her mutter, "Right after he stabbed me, I was supposed to bleed to death as he tortured her. How I made it? I don't even know." She had shaken her head, "I just know I crawled out of there and that's when Orochimaru-sama found me. He took care of me and gave me a place to temporarily call home."

Naruto had looked down, soaking it all in. "And that's when I met Sasuke." Naruto had rose his head, surprised. "He comforted me, very subtlety but it was out of empathy."

"Sasuke also watched his clan be slaughtered by his own brother..." The Uzumaki sighed, "He knew your pain more than anyone else."

"Mm." She nodded, "I'm the one who made Sasuke's sword, Kusanagi." She smiled at the thought, "I made it for him as a thanks and because he asked me if I could."

"You can make swords?!" He said, surprised. "You should make me one!"

The girl scoffed, "You don't even know how to use one. Are you even good with a kunai?"

"Hell yeah!" He roared happily, "I'm totally good with a kunai! We should match one day, your sword and my kunai! And if I prove to you how good I am, you have to make me a sword and give me lessons."

"Make you a sword and give you lessons? Tch, you're sure asking for a lot." Her arms had folded under her bust, a small smile appearing on her face. "But fine, I'll take you up on that offer."

"All right!" The blond had cheered happily, "But first, you have to get a tour of the village before you eat some ramen, y'know."

Her eyes had left the Uzumaki and looked out the window, "A tour of the village? You act like I'm a guest. I'm sure if people knew I worked under Orochimaru-sama, they wouldn't think too fondly of me."

"I never took you for someone who cared about what other people said." His words had definitely surprised her, her eyes had immediately looked back at him as he sported a teasing grin.

"I don't!" Taiga said defensively, "I just don't like troublesome situations."

"Nobody would know that you worked under Orochimaru except me, Sakura-chan, Sai, Kakashi-sensei, Captain Yamato, and Granny Tsunade." Naruto said as he counted with his fingers, "And Ero-sennin."

That was true and it wasn't like the Hokage would want that information leaked anyway. "You have a point." She sighed, nodding her head.

"Taiga-san," He called her name, causing her to focused her eyes on him. "Did you really respect Orochimaru?"

Taiga figured he was confused by the way she said his name in a highly fashion, but she couldn't blame him. "I did." Naruto hadn't said anything afterwards but he nodded his head understandingly. "But I was more so grateful than liking him, if that's what you wondered."

The confusion in his blue eyes had vanished, which meant he completely understood. At least there was no misunderstanding there, and she didn't have to dig deep or come up with explanations why. "You should get some rest."

With a nod, the kunoichi laid down on the bed. "Practice with your kunai." She had said as he had just touched the sliding door's handle, ready to slide it open.

He had grinned a her words, "Heh, I don't even have to train."

As the door shut behind him, Taiga's smirk still hadn't left. "Show off."

**o**O**o**

It had been a week since Sakura had given the o.k. that Taiga could be released. The former lightning kunoichi had spent most of the morning training, trying to get her body back in shape after spending so much time resting. She had taken a jog at what Sakura showed her was the training field, and even stop do stretches and pushups as well as Taijutsu. "She's pretty diligent, isn't she?" Sakura said to Sai, who was sitting beside her underneath a tree.

"I don't think she's used to bed rest. I'm pretty sure if the hospital's security wasn't tight, she would've escaped." Sai said, his eyes observing the young woman as well.

The pink-haired female next to him had looked at him briefly, considering his words. "I suppose your right." She had then pushed her knees to her chest, "Where is Naruto anyway? Why am I even asking? He's probably still sleeping. It is early in the morning."

"Did you really expect for Naruto to be up in such early hours of the morning?" asked Sai, the girl frowning.

"I did catch myself, didn't it?" She said irritably before she had noticed something zip by. "What was that?"

Taiga had came to a halt and did a high kick to her right, barely hitting whatever she felt come near. Her foot barely touched the boy's pale face as he had given her a confident smile. "Who the hell are you?"

A boy with shiny and black, bowl-cut style hair had now stood in front of her. He had relatively thick, black eyebrow and large, round black eyes with strangely thick, lower eyebrow He wore a green jumpsuit with orange leg warmers, his forehead protector was more like a belt and a shade of red. Around his wrist were bandages. "My name is Rock Lee." He introduced himself, "Rarely do I see someone do such vigorous training and I was interested."

Taiga's face had fell, her eyes drooping in a nonchalant manner with her hands now folded. "Please take your interest somewhere else. I've been bed ridden for four weeks and I need to get myself exercised."

"I have no qualms in stopping you, definitely not!" He raised a hand in defense, "I simply wanted to join you and perhaps in enhance such exercise and dedication to fitness!"

He was already irritating her and they had just met. Did every male in Konoha have a irritating attitude or did they just always start off rubbing her the wrong way? "Well look who is here! My youthful student and also, another flower blossoming in youth!"

Dear God, why?

Her eyes had looked left to see what appeared to be an older and tanner version of Lee, sporting the same hair, outfit, and eyebrow. "And who are you?"

"Maito Gai!" The man pointed to himself, his thumb to his chest and for a second she thought she saw a sparkle as he showed off his pearly whites in such a wide and beaming smile. "And you are?"

"A person who wants to continue training without getting interrupted." Taiga knew she was being disrespectful to her superior but she did not wake up early in the morning for this.

"Uh oh, what do you think is going on over there?" Sakura asked the pale artist to her right, who was busying painting on his canvas. He had lost interest in everything a while ago. "Sai!" She said, wanting to gain his attention.

The boy briefly looked away from looked away from his unfinished art, looking at Sakura and then a the trio. "I think you know what is going over there, Sakura-san. Lee always wants a challenge."

Taiga slapped her palm to her forehead, already growing annoyed by their strange bantering of spring and youth. "Look, I want to train by myself and on my own schedule. This is how samurai train, okay?"

"Samurai? So you're not a ninja?" Lee questioned, obviously curious.

"I'm a ninja but.. I practice samurai kenjutsu." She explained, "And to build up my arm strength, I have to train as such."

Lee was now amazed, as well as Gai. "I never seen samurai training. Please, show us how it is that samurai train. It could go into my training schedule and help build muscles I never worked on before!"

Rubbing her temples, Taiga contemplated on actually showing them or just running away. Who was to say they wouldn't follow her? "Taiga-san." Her eyes had looked over to see Naruto approaching them, Sakura and Sai right behind him. "What are you doing out here?"

"I wanted to get some training in after spending so long in the hospital." She had raised her arms over her shoulder, stretching them and then letting them fall to her side. "But these two guys are in my way."

"Bushy brow and bushier brow-sensei?" He looked at them and then at Taiga, "They are really good when it comes to body training, I guess they wanted to help."

Taiga had glowered at him, Lee, and Gai. "I didn't ask for help." She had pushed past them, walking forward.

"Something tells me she's not the friendly type." Gai had said, his hands on his hips as he had looked down at Naruto.

The Uzumaki wasn't sure how to respond but he looked up at the eccentric man, "She's just not in the right mood for it. She's very serious when it comes to training and I think she prefers to do it by herself."

"Solitude, huh? Like Kakashi and Neji." He hummed, "Lee, we oughta give her some space. Maybe she'll warm up to our help soon."

"Alright, Gai-sensei!" Lee gave his teacher a thumbs up while Naruto had followed after Taiga, who was diligently doing one-hand push-ups.

It had been a long time since he saw a girl out here doing these type of workouts. She was entirely focused on the task beforehand, not even bothering to acknowledge that he was there.

"What do you want, Uzumaki?" Taiga voice surprised him, he immediately blinked twice and then rubbed the back of his head. "I on purposely came out here early to avoid everyone. I thought I wasn't going to see you until we eat lunch with Jiraiya-sama."

He didn't know how to explain why he had seen her before the time they were supposed to without it sounding like he felt a bit excited, which made him unable to sleep as much as he usually did. "Uh..."

"Doesn't matter." The kunoichi sighed as she continued with her push-ups, now using only her right arm. "I'll be done by lunch time."

"You're going to be out here for five hours?!" He queried, surprised that she was willing to go that far.

"Mhm, and then I'll shower at the hospital." Taiga said as continued her workout, "For the meantime, why don't you go find something to do instead of breathing down my neck while I'm trying to concentrate?"

Naruto wasn't fond of leaving just yet and that's when he decided on something else. "Weren't you supposed to fight me to see if I was worth making a sword for?" Taking a kunai out of his ninja pouch, he twirled it around his pointer finger before gripping it's handle.

Taiga had paused and looked up at him, her face deadpanned. "You sure know how to piss me off, don't you?" The ninja continued to grin and it grew in size when she had stood, dusting her hands off. "Alright, fine."

"All right!" The boy cheered as she had walked over to her katana, placing it in it's belt before walking back over and standing a few feet away from him.

Taiga had tightened her grip on Honjo Masamune's handle and as soon as Naruto took the initiative to head her way, she had tossed the unsheathed sword into the air and twirled behind the blonde, catching the sword and pointed it right in the center of the red swirl on the Uzumaki's back. His eyes had widened in surprise as Taiga had grinned, "We just started and you're already losing."

Naruto had spun around, growling as he was frustrated with himself and jumped back before charging again. Taiga had followed suit, lifting herself off the ground and jumping over the kunai as Naruto swung it.

He missed again.

He twirled around to face her again and sped forward, and she engaged him to clash metals. Her sword had met his kunai, both of them struggling to overpower the other. Naruto knew she wasn't her full strength and she knew he was doing the same.

A crowd had grew, Sakura and Sai were joined by Lee and Gai as well as Neji, TenTen, Kakashi, and Yamato. They had watched them in this battle for what? They didn't know.

Noa had flipped over Naruto, who attempted to shove his kunai towards her back but she had blocked the attack and pushed him away, causing him to stumble back a few steps. "Now you're showing me what you're made of." Taiga commented as he had grinned.

They had went back into heated battle, Naruto managing to block each of Taiga's trikes while stepping back, keeping up his defense since she took every opening no matter how small. Taiga slashed repeatedly, continuing to push him back. When her sword and his kunai had met again, sparks had flew in the air and his kunai was thrown from his hands. Naruto was surprised, looking down at his hand and then at the kunai in the ground.

"I hope you didn't expect that a kunai would be half as good as you thought against my sword's caliber. If you had a sword then the battle would've still continued." Taiga had said as she quickly sheathed her katana. "But you showed promise and so, I'll make you a sword."

The crowd showed surprise at her words. "You want a sword?" Sakura asked Naruto, who had was smiling as he picked up his kunai.

"Yeah!" He said as he placed the weapon back in his pouch. "I thought Kenjutsu could be my style, dattebayo." He rubbed the back of his head, "And Taiga thinks I'll be good with one too."

"I'll be amazed if you're disciplined enough for one." He had looked at his right to see Jiraiya walking forward, smiling as his arms were folded. "Though not all great kenjutsu user focused on discipline."

"Discipline?" Gai had repeated, "Then Lee would be great for a sword, wouldn't he?"

Lee had then shoved a determined fist in the air, "I may not be good at Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, and my only strength is Taijutsu, but knowing how to use a sword is a possibility for someone such as I."

"At this rate, I might as well have my own dojo." Taiga said as she had massaged her right arm. "And I ain't the one to be anybody's teacher."

Tenten then spoke up, "If Lee wanted to know how to use a weapon, he could've asked me." She said as she then looked at Taiga, "You and I should have a match one day."

"I wouldn't mind it." The girl had looked at Naruto and Jiraiya, "I'm going to shower so we can have lunch. And during so, we'll discuss about that sword I'll be making of yours, Naruto-san." She had turned around and left.

"Taiga really is a strong swordsman." Sakura commented, "It makes me wonder how her ninjutsu is."

Neji had hummed in thought, "I'm also curious and as of her Taijutsu. Most samurai are taught how to fight without using a sword."

"To be so young and that proficient with a sword..." Kakashi had said as Yamato had looked at him.

"She must've trained like hell." Yamato said, "Like most avengers do."

Naruto and Sakura had looked down. The word avenger had reminded them of Sasuke. "Do you think those that seek revenge do actually grow stronger than those that don't?" Sakura questioned.

Jiraiya had looked at the young, pink-haired kunoichi. "It depends on where their heart is. If they haven't let darkness consumed them then their fixation on a steady path, and I do believe in that path you grow stronger in strength and stronger in mind. If you fall in darkness, who is to say you won't become so powerful that you won't destroy yourself?"

Kakashi's thoughts had also then centered around Sasuke and caused his lone eye to look at Naruto and Sakura, wondering if they were thinking about the Uchiha as well.

Naruto and Jiraiya had waited patient for Taiga to return and she had sporting her traditional ninja wear and not the clothes she wore in Hisakawa village. Jiraiya had averted his gaze, more so for himself. 'Why must she wear such provocative clothing? That outfit is skin tight!' He thought to himself.

"That's your clan symbol?" Jiraiya's thoughts had ceased as he looked to the teenagers as the blond pointed at the girl's back. On her back was a white, bolded chrysanthemum.

"Yeah." Taiga answered, "Why?"

"No, I was just asking." He simply said, "Now to Ichiraku!" He grinned as the two had walked, leaving the training fields.

It had been a long time since she was in a ninja village. The sound of up becoming ninjas making plans and talking to their peers and teachers as the civilian children playing had laughing as well. In a sense, she was filled with nostalgia of Kumogakure.

"What kind of ramen should I get? Hmmm." Naruto hummed in thought while Jiraiya decided to engage in conversation with Taiga.

"So, who trained ya in Kenjutsu?" He questioned as she had looked up at the sannin and then looked ahead as she formed a reply.

"My teacher was Minamoto Yoshitsune." She answered, "Have you heard of him?"

"He's one of the greatest samurai to have ever lived." Jiraiya said, surprised. "Man, the man rarely trains anyone. He's known for turning numerous people away, and he trained you?"

Taiga nodded, "He trained me even after I followed Orochimaru, he continued training me because he said that I possessed the heart of a warrior. Despite the fact I could never answer the question."

"The question?" Jiraiya rose a brow.

"Every year on my birthday he would ask me, 'What is most important to the heart of a warrior?' And every time I tried to come up with an answer, he said I was wrong." Taiga had lowered her head, "I never understood how he said I possessed that heart but I did not know what was most important."

Jiraiya had smiled and placed his hand atop of the girl's head. "That means you do not know what's most important to your heart yet. For now, you believe it is revenge when it might be something else but you can't see it clearly."

Naruto listened on to their conversation, looking at Jiraiya who seemed to be warming up very easily to the former Kumo kunoichi. "Maybe you're right." Taiga replied, "I really don't know what's most important in my heart but it doesn't matter. Yuuma's head is what is most important to me."

When they made it to the ramen stand, Jiraiya had sat in the far left end, Naruto in the middle between Jiraiya and Taiga. Her eyes had curiously looked around and then looked to the shop owner who had smiled at the two. "Jiraiya-sama, Naruto! Good to see ya two, oh! And you brought someone new."

Taiga had bowed her head respectfully, "Taiga."

"Taiga, eh? What an interesting name." He said as Naruto kept a bright grin.

"Now can I a large serving of miso ramen with roasted pork fillet?" He said as he then looked to Taiga, "And get one for her too! It's the best, dattebayo!"

Jiraiya had watched the girl look at Naruto skeptically, raising a brow before looking back at Ichiraku. "Make it three." Jiraiya rose three fingers, Teuchi and his daughter, Ayame, had worked very diligently.

As they waited, Taiga had looked at the Uzumaki who seemed a bit anxious for his bowl of food. Her eyes softened as she had gazed at him. 'It still makes it impossible to believe that he and Sasuke-kun were friends. I wonder... How they interacted with each other.' She had snorted at the thought, causing Naruto to look at her.

"Huh? What's got ya laughing?" He asked with his eyes squinted, wondering if she was laughing at him for some reason.

"Nothing. Just something stupid." She had closed her eyes but opened them when she heard the sound of porcelain bowls being placed in front of them, the smell of the ramen wafting in her nostrils. She had opened her eyes and was surprised by the large amount but she did have to admit that it looked appetizing.

"Itadakimasu!" Naruto chimed happily as he broke his chopsticks apart while Jiraiya said it boisterously as well while Taiga said it in a more reserved manner.

Once she had picked up some of the noodles with her chopsticks, she had slurped it up with ease but regretted it due to how hot the noodles still were. The feeling was then washed over with the full flavor of the miso ramen, which she made her tastebuds tingle.

It was actually really good.

Naruto peeked over at the kunoichi to watch her eat it rather quickly, his eyes blinking a few times with a mouthful of food. Jiraiya, Teuchi, and Ayame had watched in surprised as she quickly ate her food.

"That hospital food didn't do anything for ya, did it?" Jiraiya said, chuckling as Taiga quickly noted that all eyes were on her but it didn't matter to her. She had lifted the bowl and tilted her head back slightly to drink up what was left, and sighed happily when she placed the empty bowl down.

Naruto began to quickly chow down his food and then placed his empty bowl down as well. "Another bowl!"

Taiga had then raised her hand, "Another bowl for me as well."

Jiraiya's face had became sour, knowing he was going to be paying for all of this.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Sorry it took me so long to pull this chapter out.

Hopefully, the next one will be longer.


	6. Chapter Five: Building Blocks

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. Masashi Kishimoto does!

* * *

Lunch with Jiraiya and Naruto proved to be more entertaining than Taiga expected. Hearing their crazy stories when and when they hadn't traveled together was amusing, leaving her surprised and intrigued at the same time. Whenever Naruto's past was brought it, it was brought up with precaution. She got the gist that Naruto had struggled, very much so in the past. And in a way it reminded her of the conversation with Sasuke a long time ago.

**Flashback**

_"Sasuke-kun, do you believe in a friendship that can overpower everything?" Taiga asked the Uchiha. They were both sent on a mission to send a letter to a person in Kirigakure under Orochimaru's orders. _

_They had to been at least thirteen and fourteen at the time and Sasuke had acted as leader on the mission despite Taiga's disapproval. "Why are you asking me this suddenly?" _

_"I'm just curious as to how you feel about it." She answered truthfully, shrugging her shoulders. "You, Sui-kun, and Karin-chan are the only friends I have." _

_"It's not important to me so there was no sense in bothering asking." Taiga had frowned but she realized she should've known he would've answered so nonchalantly. Sasuke barely cared about anything sentimental. _

_Tilting her head back, she had looked up at the night sky above them as they had walked through the forest. "Yoshitsune-sensei would constantly tell me, 'You will know your true friends when sick or distressed. If one you thought was your friend keeps his distance from you during trying times then he should be considered a coward.' That's why I was curious." explained the kunoichi, her eyes then looking forward at Sasuke who continued on. _

_"Is friendship really that important to you?" His question had caused her to slow down in steps and then eventually stop walking. _

_"Is friendship really not that important to you?" She questioned back, he also continued to stop walking. _

_He looked over his shoulder, his eyes staring down at the ground. "It was once important and now it's not." _

_"So what does that makes us?" Taiga asked, "Are we not friends?" _

_Silence had lingered on for a few minutes and Sasuke continued to walk without so much as saying another word. Her eyes had lowered, a frown on her face as she had slowly followed behind him. _

_"I don't want to see anyone else die." Her eyes had immediately fled to him. "So it's best not to be friends with anyone. We don't live in that world where we can blindly believe in happiness. The shinobi world is not built like that." _

**End Flashback**

All Naruto mentioned was his bonds, and his friends. That's why that memory had resurfaced on her mind and weighed heavily on her. _'I don't want to see anyone else die.'_ In a way, she felt like that was why she distance herself from others despite growing an attachment to Sasuke, Karin, and Suigetsu. They would always be her friends, no matter what.

"Taiga-san." Everyone had looked behind them to see Kakashi standing, one hand raised to signify a hello.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto blinked twice, "What do you need Taiga for?"

"Tsunade-sama would like to see Taiga-san in her office. It has something to do with Yuuma." Taiga had immediately jumped down from the chair-stool, walking towards the infamous copy ninja.

"Let's go." There was no convincing Taiga from not going, she had to know what anything related to Yuuma was needed for her to know.

Naruto had immediately got to his feet as well. "I'll come too!"

Kakashi had looked towards his student, knowing very well that there was no convincing him otherwise. "Jiraiya-sama, will you be joining us?"

The Gallant had looked towards them all, Taiga and Naruto's eyes on his form with question. He looked at them tree over and then look to Taiga, "If the young lady thinks I benefit in going."

Did he really care if she wanted him to go or not? Did he respect how important capturing Yuuma was to her? "Jiraiya-sama, I think you know I respect you and so if you can be of any help then I don't mind."

Naruto and Kakashi were shocked, Naruto's shock more evident on his face. "H-Hey! When I wanted to help, you literally shoved me away?"

Taiga had folded her arms. "Are you a legendary sannin? No. You're just some pesky, knuckle-head who forces himself in other people's business."

The blond had narrowed his eyes, offended by her words. "But I helped, didn't I?!"

"Never said you didn't." Taiga had then looked to Kakashi, "We shouldn't keep the Hokage waiting."

Naruto wasn't going to let it go, he had complained the whole time during their walk towards the Hokage's office. It didn't bother Taiga none since she had eventually tuned him out.

When they were finally in the woman's office, they had stood in front of her desk and awaited for her announcement. She had finished writing up the last bit of her current paperwork before raising her head at the four of them. "We have some new about Yuuma."

Taiga had looked at the woman with anticipation, her hands steadily at her sides. "Was he seen?"

"No, but we can officially declare Ryuuji as his subordinate." Tsunade had said as she had folded her hands. "In another village, Ryuuji had announced all that come for Yuuma, his leader, will be killed."

"So that means Ryuuji works under Yuuma, but there might a speculation that there could be others?" Kakashi had questioned, in which Tsunade had nodded.

Taiga had chewed on her bottom lip in thought, "Why does he need people working under him? What is the point? He's been working by himself for so long that it doesn't make any sense that he would need Ryuuji."

"He might have a goal." Jiraiya rubbed his chin, "You don't think he has a vendetta on a large village?"

"The only village I could envision him hating is Kumogakure, but even then I'm not sure why. He killed everyone in our clan, I'm the only one left. Unless, there are some people that escaped and I don't know." Taiga sighed, growing frustrated that she couldn't put the pieces together.

"Whatever it is, it's a problem." Kakashi added, "And we need to hurry up and find out."

Naruto had looked to Taiga, seeing her hands curl up into fists. His frowned had deepen as he then looked towards Tsunade, "Should we go to Taiga's old home and look for clues? Maybe there's something left behind that could help us."

"Is it still in one piece?" Tsunade questioned Taiga, who had nodded her head.

"He didn't destroy anything, like the buildings and what not. The last I heard, Raikage-sama had kept it restricted." She said, "But I think Naruto is right, there might be something there that could help us know what he is up to."

"Are you sure, you're up for that?" Taiga had lowered her gaze before closing her eyes, "It'll be difficult going back after all that has happened there."

"I'll be fine." Taiga immediately said, "I'm not going to runaway from it."

Tsunade had observed Taiga for a few minutes, a silence lingering in the office as she was trying to determine if it was the right thing and if Taiga was emotionally strong for it. The young kunoichi had kept a rather determined expression, posing as if she was not going to back down. "I'll write the Raikage a letter stating you'll be coming to do an investigation. And if it is alright for me a Konohagakure shinobi to join you."

"Who will be joining me?" Taiga asked.

"I would like Naruto to stay on this case with you. If anything is to go awry, I want him there with you." said Tsunade, "Although, we have to remember that the Akatsuki are still looking for you Naruto, your safety is our priority and this an s-rank mission. Yuuma is not a small time threat."

"If that's the case then you should make this a Team Seven mission." Kakashi had said, "If we were to counter him then we will need Sakura."

The Hokage had hummed. "I'm asking for a lot by Naruto go and I'm not sure if increasing the group will make things better. I'm sure he will like his own ninja in assistance like he did in Hisakawa village."

"If you tell the Raikage-sama that I'm comfortable with Team Seven then I am sure he'll allow it. Raikage-sama knows me very well." She wasn't sure if that was much of a help but she was beginning to understand that flying solo while going after Yuuma was not going to work anymore.

"Very well then." said Tsunade, "I'll write him a letter and you'll leave in three days. Until then, I suggest you save up your energy. Anything could happen."

Taiga had bowed deeply, "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

"Alright, you're all dismissed." The blonde had looked to her right at Shizune, who was standing beside her desk with TonTon in her arms. "Give me the next batch of paperwork so I can get this over with."

Taiga and Naruto had both left the office with Jiraiya and Kakashi behind them. "I'm going to report to Sakura and Sai about the mission." He said them before disappearing.

"Looks like you have a very exciting mission ahead of ya, Naruto." Jiraiya had said as both teenagers had looked to him. "You sure you gonna be alright, Taiga?"

Grabbing a handful of her hair, she had looked in thought for a few minutes before letting it go. "I'll be fine. I'll finally get that bastard after all these years." She said, "That's all that really matters."

"I know you want vengeance but don't lose yourself in it." His piece of advice had stayed with her and she had closed her eyes briefly. "If you lose yourself in it, you might not find a way out."

This was advice from Jiraiya, a legendary sannin, but it was also advice from someone who cared. Typically Taiga would've dismissed, saying she knew that already but since she respected him greatly she just nodded understandingly.

"Well, I'll be seeing you kids later. I have some business to attend to myself." He had begun to walk down the hall, both of them looking at the direction he was leaving.

"See ya, Ero-sennin." Naruto waved as Jiraiya had did a small wave as he continued walking forward.

Taiga had began to walk towards the exit herself, Naruto had ran up and caught up with her. "Where are you going?"

"To find a place to stay for three days." She answered honestly, "I can't stay at the hospital and hell, I don't know if I can afford a hotel."

"Oh! Then you should stay at my place then! I mean, it's not really big but it's—"

Taiga stopped walking and rose a brow, "And what do I look like staying with you, Uzumaki?"

Naruto began to give an uneasy, toothy grin and scratched his cheek. "Well, you don't have a place to go and I can't afford you a hotel either. I mean, it was a silly suggesting but I guess one of the girls could help you with that."

"The only girl I've met so far is Sakura-san, and there was that one girl at the training field." She said, her hand on her hip. "I guess Sakura-san is my only hope."

"Well, I'll show you where Sakura-chan lives." He had said as Taiga nodded and then continued their way out of the Hokage office. Now that they were in the busy village, she was able to look around to see just how big it was.

He was itching to talk to fill the silence between them but he didn't want to say anything to set her off again. He thought they were off to a good start but she had kept her guard up again once more. It was better than a few weeks ago, but the progress was incredibly slow again. "Uh, Taiga-san."

"Yeah?" She said, looking at him. "What is it?"

Before she knew it, her back was pressed to the ground and there was something pinning her arms down. One eye was open as she had felt something wet go up from her cheek and up her face. "W-What the hell?!" She had screamed, until she had noticed that there was a large dog on top of her.

"Akamaru!" She heard a boy yell, the dog had temporarily stopped licking her and looked over to who was probably his owner. "C'mon, let her go." He said as Naruto knelt down and helped her up as she had wiped her face from the dog's saliva.

In front of her was a boy that was wearing a black, jacket that fitted his form with zippers over the chest and sleeves. He had matching black pants to match with sandals that also had zippers to coordinate with his jacket. His hair was short, his skin tanned, and messy brown hair. His eyes were definitely noticeable due to them being slit-like and black but what stood out the most was his red markings on his cheeks.

"Sorry about Akamaru, but I think he have somethin' on ya that really captures his attention. He usually doesn't pounce on strangers like that." The boy had said as he had rubbed atop of the canine's head.

Even though she was annoyed, she couldn't necessarily blame the boy for his dog's actions. "Yeah," she merely mumbled as Naruto blinked a few times.

"Oh, Naruto, I didn't see ya there." Kiba said, showing off his fang-like teeth.

"Nice seein' ya too, Kiba." Naruto replied as two other people had walked up behind Kiba. There was a boy and girl. The boy had wore a green jacket that went past his knees and the hood obstructed his face as well as the color of his clothes. He even wore black, circular glasses that didn't allow you to see his eyes. The girl, she had dark purple hair that was hime-style and went past her waist while short strands had framed her face. She wore an oversize, long-sleeved, lavander and creem jacket with lavender cuffs and baggy navy blue pants with black, low-heeled ninja sandals. Her headband was around her neck, which obviously shown that she was a leaf shinobi. Her eyes were of the byakugan, something that Taiga had seen before.

The girl's face had immediately brightened red, her eyes averted. "Oh, N-Naruto-kun." She stuttered, which made Taiga raise a brow.

"Shino, Hinata." Naruto greeted them both as Taiga then saw all eyes on her arm. She had looked to see that Naruto had still held her arm even though he had helped her up minutes ago. Embarrassed, Taiga had pulled her arm away from him and when he noticed, he had rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry."

"So, uh, who's this?" Kiba pointed to Taiga, "Is she the girl that Lee has been runnin' his mouth about? He keeps talkin' about this girl that's been with you and Team Seven and how she is good with a sword."

"Only been out for a day and I'm already popular." Taiga sighed, "But yeah, your friend was talkin' about me."

Shino had then stepped forward, "Naruto," He said quietly, "another woman?"

"Another woman?" Both Taiga and Naruto said in a unison, looking at Shino like he was crazy.

"Sakura-san, Hinata-chan..." He went on to say.

Confused as ever, Naruto squinted his eyes. "What the hell are you talking about, Shino?"

"Forget it." The strange boy immediately dropped the conversation as Naruto continued to look at him skeptically.

"I don't know what the hell you're thinking but it needs to stop." Taiga butted in, not liking the sound of what Shino was insinuating.

Kiba chuckled, "Whatcha getting' hostile for? Naruto is always around girls."

The shinobi samurai had folded her arms. "I'm saying not to take it the wrong way."

Naruto blinked twice, "I'm always around girls?" He pointed to himself. "Since when?!"

"Don't even worry about it." said Taiga as she had walked ahead. "I'm outta here. I'll look for Sakura-san by myself."

"T-Taiga, wait!" He said but Kiba had grabbed his collar. "What are you doing?"

"You owe me, remember?" Taiga had looked over her shoulder, catching Kiba giving Hinata wink and the girl looking surprised. Something wasn't right about what was going on, but she decided not to look into it.

Naruto had struggled, flailing his arms. "Taiga-san, wait!" He kept urging her to wait up for him. Growing annoyed, she had spun around on her heels.

"Hey, can ya let the boy go so he can show me where I'll be stayin'? I know he owes you but he owes me something that's a bit more important." She didn't know why she helped him. Maybe it was the fact that he was gonna scream her name every five minutes if she didn't.

Kiba had frowned and then let the Uzumaki go, who immediately turned to him with his fist shaking in the air. "I'll get you for that, Kiba!"

"Yeah yeah." said the boy, who shrugged it off. "Next time, I'm not gonna let her save ya."

Naruto had walked towards Taiga, shaking his fist once more at Kiba, who grinned tauntingly. "I'll get him next time."

"Sure." said the female beside him as they had walked forward. "How long is it gonna take to reach Sakura-san's house?"

"Not too long, we're almost there." He sighed, his arms behind his head as they walked forward. "So when am I gonna get my samurai training?"

"When I think you're ready." She answered.

He had then walked in front of her, obviously not letting the conversation go. "Until I'm ready? When ready? What am I preparing for?"

"Wielding a sword takes some mental discipline." Taiga explained, "And you're definitely not ready for it and I haven't begun to see if you're prepared for it. You're asking me to teach you when you can't even control your curiosity."

The boy had rubbed the back of his head, uneasy once more. "Ah, right. You know best."

The Taiga couldn't fight back her smile and merely shook her head, "You're a strange one, Uzumaki."

"Strange?" He squinted, "How am I strange?"

"You're unnaturally happy for no apparent reasons. It's grotesque but it's refreshing." Naruto had blinked a few times, "What?"

"Grotask?" Taiga blinked twice, "What does that mean? Big words really confuse me, dattebayo."

Her right hand had cover her mouth while her left arm was over her stomach. Her shoulders shook as she had tried her best to hold back her laughter, but it blurted out without warning. She had tilted her head back, her laughter filling the air in the middle of the village street.

Naruto had looked at her in surprise as the sound of jingling bells came through his mind at the sound of her laugh. It was surprisingly light, high-pitched than the mirthful voice tone she had usually take. It almost sounded like a child's, which made it even more strange to him.

But it was contagious, but due to him upset that she was laughing at him, he just smiled.

"I knew it!" Both of them had looked towards the sound of the voice, "I knew Naruto-kun was with another girl!"

"Ino?" Naruto had said as they had observed the platinum blonde, haired kunoichi with bright blue eyes. Her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail with bangs covering the right side of her face. She wore a short, purple, sleeveless button down blouse and an open-front purple apron-like skirt over a shorter black skirt with warmers on her elbows with fishnet ones as the same on her knees.

Ino had walked over to them, a smile on her face. "Cheating on your girlfriend, Naruto-kun?" She had teased him.

"Cheating?" Naruto repeated, "What's with you and everyone sayin' weird stuff like that?" He quesitoned, his arms folded.

"I find that insulting being called his girlfriend." Taiga spoke up as Ino chuckled.

"Hey, Ino, is Sakura-chan home?" He asked, knowing how much good friends both Ino and Sakura were.

"Oh, yeah! She went home early." Ino nodded, "After working her shift in the hospital, she said she to go home for something. Why? You guys looking for her?"

Naruto nodded, "Taiga-san is going to be staying in the village for a couple of days before we head off for our mission. And we're hoping that she could stay with Sakura-chan."

"Oh," The leaf shinobi had nodded understandingly, "it makes me want us to have a sleepover between us girls! We don't know much about you, but a friend of our dumbass is a friend of ours."

"Dumbass?" Naruto repeated as Taiga chuckled as he seemed to miss the point, but he clearly caught on a few minutes after. "H-Hey!"

"That's really up to me, that sleepover thing you mentioned." Taiga had said, who was hoping that it wouldn't happen. "That's up to Sakura-san."

The blonde had grinned, "Oh. I know, and that's why I'm going with you guys to see her. I bet she'll like it. It's been such a lonnng time since we had one! Oh,w e should just all to that hotspring inn not too far from Konoha, that'll be an adventure."

Taiga felt uncomfortable with the idea, knowing how this might end. She wasn't sure how this was really going to work. "We do need a little vacation." Naruto began to warm up on the idea.

"Yeah, see! It'll be fun!" Ino had the boy hooked without even a good bait.

Taiga sighed, hanging her head. She couldn't escape it.

She was doomed.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Sorry this chapter is so short. I had a different idea in mind, but I decided I want all of Konoha 11 together for the next chapter because it'll spice things up.

***Edited:** Could've sworn Naruto used formalities with everyone else like he does with Sakura-chan, but thanks for correcting me reviewers!


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